


Pain and Pleasure

by blumberberry



Category: Bleach, Ulquihime - Fandom, Ulquiorra x Orihime
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Angels, F/M, Fantasy, Heaven, Hell, Sci-Fi, Supernatural - Freeform, blumberberry, orihime - Freeform, pain and pleasure, ulquihime, ulquiorra - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-22 16:38:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 13
Words: 56,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13170924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blumberberry/pseuds/blumberberry
Summary: When a demon is cast from hell, his only hope is to meet a human girl. To do what? He doesn't know. What he does know is that his ever craving desire for her is growing. All of it can only bring Pain and Pleasure. Ulquiorra x Orihime





	1. A Pure Soul

**Author's Note:**

> This is the same BlumberBerry from ff.net! I originally posted this story on fanfiction.net but decided to place here as well! I started this story in 2010 but I still plan on completing. If you enjoyed please let me know what you think :)

A curse.  
  
Such a dreadful thing for those who have experienced the life of another….  
  
The life with a mother and father. Going to school. Family outings. Friends to play with, and all those sorts of things. This was the life Ulquiorra Schiffer never had.  
  
His life, could you even consider it using that word…life.  
  
His curse brought something more into contradiction then what seemed reality. Although to a mere mortal, he was nothing more then a figment of their imagination. He had no meaning to his existence.  
  
In this beastly form, he would ponder the human realms. Rolling a stone to the top of the hill, only to have it roll back down every time. No meaning, no point, because it could never be completed.  
  
This….was Ulquiorra's curse.  
  
A demon cast away from the depths of hell, for a reason he couldn't comprehend. To live in the human realm in this….beastly form.   
  
The sun, his greatest enemy….causing him to hide away during the day.  
  
The angels from heaven, his second greatest enemy….they would hunt him down, during both night and day to eliminate him.  
  
His life had no meaning but he couldn't give it up. But why? There was one small thread of hope for him.   
  
Satan himself…as he cast Ulquiorra from hell told him one last thing. As the portals were ripping though, pulling the demon in, Satan had said, "This is the end of your life here. Destiny has made it clear, you are not one of us. You will be sent to the human realm, where-" His words were cut off by the gushing winds that were consuming Ulquiorra into the portal.  
  
Everything went dark, the last words heard were a mere whisper. "a girl…she will reject it---" Those where the last words this demon had heard.   
  
That was 2 years ago, and still, Ulquiorra was wandering the human world, in search…of what he thought could be a girl. To do what? He didn't know exactly.  
  
He would go from town to town, traveling only at night, resting during the day, hiding from the angels, and in search of…a girl.

* * *

 

In the depths of a forest, in the hollow of a tree, laid a monster. His wings, folded back, and his glowing eyes, peering into the darkness   
  
The sun had just set, it was time to go on the run. Stealthily, he crept out of the tree and spread his magnificent black wings. It was time to travel yet again. The angels were hot on his trail, and his stomach craved for human souls.  
  
Taking a deep breath of air, he set off, traveling at great heights, his wings lifting him off the ground.   
  
From afar, he could see the lights of a small quaint town. He could almost taste it, the taste of a soul. He eyes contained that pure predatory look, as the winds blew his hair about. 

* * *

  
"Bye Bye Tatski!" Orihime waved to her best friend. The two had just enjoyed a day of shopping at the mall and going out for ice cream.   
  
For the rest of the evening, the auburn haired girl had dinner with her best friend's family and watched a movie together. It was a lovely day, those that you wish could never end, but of course it did.  
  
"Are you sure you don't want me to walk you home Orihime?" Tatski called back from the frame of her door.  
  
"Oh no, it's alright." She stuttered out, "Thanks for hanging out today."   
  
A smile tugged it's way at Tatski's lips, "Anytime…." At that, Orihime began walking into the night. Once she was out of sight, her dark haired friend closed the door.  
  
Dressed in jean shorts and a green shirt with the designs of floral on the lower right hand, Orihime walked down the oh-so familiar streets of Karukura. During the day, it would have been an easy and enjoyable task.   
  
At night though, it was a different story. She wasn't the type of person to be accustomed to something as the night. It was just in her nature, in her personality, to enjoy the brightness off the day.  
  
Although Tatsku had offered to walk with her, she didn't want to burden her with having to take care of her with something as simple as…walking her home per say.

* * *

 

  
Ulquiorra was following a gang from the empty sky. Although he always craved the soul of a pure human, he had heard stories that being around one would always tugg an aching pain around his hole placed neatly where his heart should be.  
  
The word….was a concept he didn't believe. For these past two years, he's been around humans and heard them use that word. A heart.   
  
 _"I love you with all my heart." She would place her hand on her chest._  
 _"Just follow your heart and you'll know what to do." He pointed to his sibling's chest_  
 _"I believe it with all my heart."_  
  
How could one item, mean so many things? He didn't understand, nor did he believe. His life was the opposite of the meaning it held, if it held any at all.  
  


* * *

  
  
There were three men. Three ruggedly men….three impure humans. But what is he to judge. He's probably the most tainted being that had ever existed. His taste buds craved for nothing like him. The total opposite, he craved for a pure soul.   
  
The kind that had no fault, the kind that produced an irresistible aroma that could cause your mouth to water, the kind that could keep you satisfied the longest, and the kind that he had never been confronted with.    
  
In hell, a few demons had told stories when they faced one. Their hallows would ache, they would be unable to breath, and their entire body would freeze. It was probably the most pleasurable and painful experience possible.   
  
What would happen if they actually did consume a pure soul? No one knew besides the devil himself.  
  


* * *

  
  
After about ten minutes, Orihime had found herself at a dead end in the darkness of an alleyway. She began to lose her cool. Everywhere she turned, she heard noises, evil laughter. The moon even appeared to be against her, hiding itself from behind a cloud. Her main source of light, was cowering away.  
  
"Look what we have here."   
  
She gasped and spun around at the sound of the voice.  
  
"A Loli traverler."  
  
Another person said. Orihime's eyes widened.  
"It's our lucky day then. We'll share her. I call her first."  
  
A person walked into clear view from the darkness. Two more men followed behind. They were dressed in black and had the stench of alcohol. The young girl cringed as they made their way ever so closer towards her.   
  
Her knees knocked as she took a step back, only to be met with that dead end. The three men got closer, as the mumbled dirty things, causing Orihime to nearly gag.  
  
"Oh man, look at those breasts. It's almost big enough for all of us at once."  
  
"Don't be a fool. She's mine." He licked his lips. The other had a predatory glint in his eyes.  
  
She couldn't run, there was no way out. She was trapped, like a bird stuck in a cage. Before she knew it, she was pressed against the wall, the man in the middle had her body against his.   
  
She felt something hard extruding from his groin press against her. "Oh god." She rasped, struggling to get him off of her, but it was useless. She could barely see anything, the moon was still hidden, as one of his hands crept up her sides.  
  
Orihime felt her whole body fill with disgust. He had her pushed against the wall, as she thrashed about, trying to get him off of her, the man only grinned. He lashed out his tongue, revealing that disgusting scent of alcohol and smoke.  
  
His tongue made contact with her neck. "P-please no!" His hand slid under shirt. She was about ready to scream when---  
  
A gush of wind swarmed around the two, a dark eerie figure stood behind the scruffy man. Orihime was able to peer behind him to see this creature. Her eyes widened at the sight of wings.  
  
"Hey, who are you?" One of the threadbare men called out. The creature spared him a glance only before lashing his tail out at him, strangling him till not even a breath of air was able to find its away into his lips.  
  
The beastly creature drew him closer, and breathed in his tainted soul. His body dissipated to nothing but ash. He turned to other man and did the same.  
  
Orihime was barely able to make out what was happening in the darkness, but as the creature turned to face her and the man that still had her pressed against the wall, she was able to see a glint of light in it's eyes. Almost like a snake, an owl. Almost like being faced with a demon.  
  
The ragged man finally released his hold on the young girl and pulled out a knife. "Who the fuck are you?!"   
  
Almost instantly, the creature appeared before him.   
  
The moon finally reappeared, shedding it's light onto this creature. Orihime's silver orbs tripled ten fold. It's wings, its eyes, it's hair, the skin color, gaping hole in his chest, the fur, the tail. She could do nothing but watched terrified as the creature struck the man, causing him to lose hold of his knife.  
  
The next moment, the demon had this man's neck in his grasp. He held him, clasping his grip tighter, all the while the human gasped for air. The creature brought the man closer to his face. Unhurriedly, he shut his eyes as his lips parted, breathing in this human's soul, until he was nothing but ash in the air.  
  
Orihime watched this happen, fear tainting her eyes. No, it wasn't fear, it was something else…  
  
Her head tilted upwards to face this creature, as it turned to face her.  
  


* * *

  
  
Ulquiorra has just had three souls. The taste, was dreadful, but substantial. It lingered on his tongue as he felt another presence still there. He turned to face it.  
  
It was a human girl. The light from the moon, which, poured over his back, lightened up her heart shaped face, her fiery tresses, and shimmering silver orbs. She was looking up at him, fear contaminating her pure eyes.  
  
No, it wasn't fear. Ulquiorra was able to mark it as….gratitude. 'I see..' he inaudibly thought. He had just saved her from these three men, but…..that is not something destiny could accept. He would devour her soul as well, and leave.  
  
His hand reached out to take a hold of her neck, as he took a whiff at the aroma, extruding from her soul. He froze…his eyes widened…he couldn't move.  
"This is…." His eyes locked with this human girl's.  
  
Confused mixed with gratitude. His hand was still reached out to her, but he was unable to pull back, he was unable to move.   
  
Orihime watched this creature's expression change as his hand extended towards her. Did he want her to take it? She couldn't think clearly. The moon's light was leaking from behind him, engulfing his whole being, while she could only stare up at his everlasting orchid green eyes.  
  
Hesitantly, she reached her hand out to his.  
  
Ulquiorra only watched in terror as the human girl's hand was reaching ever closer for his.   
  
'No…No…No…No!'   
  
Her soft fingers made contact with his, almost immediately, this coursing feeling made it's way through his whole body. A pleasurable feeling, all coming from this light touch…he wanted more…  
  
That was until the feeling reached his hollow. He cringed in pain, The feeling was streaming around the edges of his hole, an anguishing feeling began to overpower the pleasure, and still, he was unable to draw back.  
  
"D-don't…" He began. Orihime watched the emotions play about his expressions. Pleasure and Pain.  
  
Then he began speaking, her fingers still touching his.  
  
"Don't Touch me!" He was finally able to regain his ability to move and immediately swiped her hand away. The human girl blinked in surprise.  
  
His magnificent wings spread, about to take off. Ulquiorra eye's met hers one final time.   
Silver met green.   
  
And he was gone.


	2. Ravished Temptations

Orihime could only stare as the creature flew off. The gush of wind from his wings left her auburn hair blowing in the night.  
  
She could only stand there, astonished.   
  
This demon had saved her. Or was it a figment of her imagination? She didn't know. Did any of this actually happen? Once again, she didn't know. Questions spun through her mind.  
  
All that she did know, was that she was in debt to him. He…or it had saved her, and for that, she was grateful.  
  
The reason he swiped her hand away after reaching out for hers, she didn't know as well.  
  
Not wanting to be in this dark alleyway anymore, the young girl sped off back home

* * *

  
  
Once she was out of sight, he sighed and held up his hand, the same one that she had touched. The smell of her oh so sweet soul was still there. His mouth began to water absentmindedly as he recalled the pleasurable feeling that coursed threw him the moment they touched.  
  
It was a feeling he never experienced before, something he couldn't describe, and something he wanted to feel again. It was almost as if he was dipped in the purest water made by God himself and all that tainted him had dissipated. But it was so much more then that, it was impossible to describe. It was….. pleasure….  
  
Then the pain had come. The electric shock of this girl's touch had finally reached his hollow and that was when the terrible pain began. If he didn't feel tainted now, he sure did then. It was as if everything that had a meaning, had none, and everything that didn't, had one. He couldn't breath, he couldn't move. It was just so….painful.   
  
But was the pain worth it, just to be able to feel that pleasure again?  
  
Ulquiorra tentatively brought his fingers to his dark lips. As if trying restrain himself, he tried to pull back as his tongue reached for the leftovers of that girl's touch. But it was so irresistible. He continued to ravish his fingers, the delectable taste flooding his mind, his thoughts.   
  
Almost like a drug.   
  
After a few minutes, the taste was gone. Nothing was left but the blandness of his hands. He was only left to ponder on this. This girl….gave him everything which the demon's back in  hell had talked about. Well only a few of those who were able to experience it.  
  
Experience coming face to face with a pure soul…  
  
It has been told that only a handful of humans possess such a soul. They own powers stronger then angels, some…stronger then God; that it was make them so irresistible. The purity is what draws demons towards them.  
  
Ulquiorra raced his hand through his inky black locks and sighed.  
  


* * *

  
"This is the end of your life here. Destiny has made it clear, you are not of us. You will be sent to the human realm, where-" His words were cut off by the gushing winds that were consuming Ulquiorra into the portal.  
Everything went dark, the last words heard were a mere whisper. "a girl…she will reject it---" Those where the last words this demon had heard.

* * *

  
  
The young demon recalled that day. The day he was cast from hell…and yet, he couldn't help but wonder, who was the girl he was in search for? What will she reject? That whole concept was what kept his life going. It's what kept that will to fight for survival. Without it, Ulquiorra would have given up long ago, and the angels sent by God would have surely destroyed him by now.  
  
He had seen human girls before. He had touched a few of them by mistake. But…none were able to bring out the effect that this girl had. Could she be the one? Or was it just by luck that he had been face to face with a pure soul?  
  
That….was Ulquiorra's next task in figuring out.   
  
But for now, it was unsafe being out in the open like this, even at night. The angels had just arrived at the town he was at a day ago. They were far enough at the moment, but they were getting closer.   
  
Logically, he would had moved on to the next town by now. But this…girl, he would have to meet her again. No matter what the cost. So, he would be staying in this town for now. That meant finding a substantial place for shelter and hiding from the angels.  
  
Ulquiorra pushed off the tree branch and spread his wings, in search of such a place. His thoughts, still remained on this girl. The one that contained a pure soul. 

* * *

  
  
Orihime awoke from her bed in a jolt. The actions of the previous night flooded her mind. She just couldn't rid herself of those amazingly bright green eyes the demon possessed. She continued to scorn herself for not forgetting this.  
  
It was obviously a figment of her imagination. Better yet, it was a dream. Yes, that's all it was. A dream. Those three men didn't corner her in the alleyway and no demon came to her rescue. She was only imagining things again.  
  
Yet still, as she got out of bed and got ready for school, she was unable to forget the image of glowing green predatory eyes peering from the darkness.  
  
Dressed in a short gray skirt, white collared uniform shirt, and a light beige cashmere coat, Orihime set off for school. Well more precisely, she was heading for Tatski's house.   
Everyday, the two friends would walk to and from school.  
  
The auburn haired girl hid the key under her doormat and left.  
  


* * *

  
  
Downtown, was the worst neighborhood of Karukura. Thugs wandered the streets, criminals hid in abandoned houses, and everyone there had a tainted soul.   
  
This was the place Ulquiorra was staying.   
  
The night before, when looking for a place to stay, he walked his way into a dark alley….

* * *

  
  
It had begun raining as Ulquiorra wandered down one of the streets downtown. The sight of an alleyway caught his attention.   
  
Thankfully, his monstrous form blended in perfectly with the night. Not a ray of light could find its way into the depths of this darkness. This was the way Ulquiorra liked it, the way he had lived his whole life. In the dark.  
  
Accidentally, the demon had knocked over a garbage can, although the sounds of the rain had devoured the sound of the metals clashing.   
  
Ulquiorra looked up towards the sky. Rain droplets ran down his face, down his thick tear marks, as if real tears. If only he was capable of producing such things. His jet-black hair was soaked, as well the fur following waist down.  
  
In the depths of darkness, in this murky alleyway, the demon's all seeing eye caught glimpse of a window. Concentrating his energy, he was able to conclude no one resided past it. No one was living there.  
  
No souls to devour….  
  
But it did mean, a place to stay for the night. A place to seclude his soiled form from the angels sent by God.  
  
He flapped his wings lightly, raising him a few feet of the ground, and landed gracefully on the windowsill. Crouched down, he pulled the old contraption open, and slid inside.  
  
It was one room. No windows besides the one he had just gone through. Newspapers scattered the floor and in the corner of the undersized vacant area was a simple mattress, which lay on the floor.  
  
The young demon must admit, it was a lot better then sleeping in a tree.   
  
Droplets of water fell to the ground from his fur as he made his way over to the corner, and collapsed on the mattress, as the sun began to dawn the horizon.  
  


* * *

  
  
It was about an hour past the breaking of the sun in the morning sky.   
  
Orihime was waiting patiently in front of Tatski's house. She was leaning on the fence, which surrounded her best friend's residence, recalling a certain recent event.   
  
The moment their hands touched, hers and the demon's, she was overwhelmed with this mesmerizing shock. An icy cold feeling, as if all the happiness was swept from the world, the pain and misery over a time of hundreds of years, it was something far out of her character, and something she had never experienced before.  
  
She wandered that if that one touch from that demon, could produce such a depressing feeling, such a gloomy aura, how could this creature feel? Carrying this feeling, day in and day out. Such a distressing burden one must carry.   
  
"It was just like in the movies…" The auburn haired girl mumbled to herself, looking up at the sky. That was when she remembered….  
  
"It was a dream!" She smacked herself for her lack of obedience. "Why am I still thinking about it!?"  
  
"Thinking about what?"  
  
Orihime spun around to the sight Tatski. She was looking at her with a dumbfounded expression.  
  
"A dream I had." The young girl stated as a matter of fact.  
  
Her raven haired friend notched an eyebrow, rather confused. "Why aren't you allowed to think about your dream?" She asked, knowing where this was going…  
  
"Because it didn't happen." Orihime responded.  
  
Tatski could only mutter a small laugh. "You rarely make sense Orihime." Said friend, formed a pout. "And what is that supposed to mean?" The fall haired girl questioned, while crossing her arms.  
  
Tatski began walking down the sidewalk, ignoring her friend's question. Not wanting to be left behind, Orihime quickly followed afterwards.  
  


* * *

  
  
The day rapidly passed, and soon Orihime found herself waiting patiently at her seat for the bell to ring.   
  
She rolled her eyes over to Tatski, who was mingling with Chizuru and Mahana, then over to the window, where she watched the trees sway in the wind.  
  
Her eyes were getting lost in the collage of greenery; it was only drawing her back to that 'dream.' Throughout the day, the remorseful feeling lingered on her fingers. She could also pity the poor creature, to have so much misery.   
  
It made her want to cry. It was just so much she could feel it racing into her even from such a light touch. But of course…this creature was only a figment of her imaginations. Nothing worth pondering on if it was only going to make her cry.  
  
With that thought in mind, she picked up her school bag and left at the sound of the bell.  
  


* * *

  
  
After walking Tatski home, there was still plenty of daylight left to get some shopping done. Orihime was running low on some things so this would be the perfect time to restock on some groceries.  
  
The young teenager headed for the swapshop, where lots of people would have there little shops set up. Plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables brought straight from the farm would be there for her to pick at ease.  
  
It was a short walk, probably about five minutes until she reached the familiar plaza of tents and miniature shops.   
  
"Let's see…." Orihime thought out loud, " I need.….apples, redbean paste, and …oh! ..rice."  
  
She quickly bought everything on her list was about to head home when….  
  
"Ice cream!!" She squealed in delight. There was a small shop available, selling all sorts of flavors for ice cream. There were all ready a few children in line, as Orihime made her way there.  
  
Once it was her turn, the worker asked her what she wanted.  
  
"Hmm…there are so many flavors." It was going to be a tough decision. "Hmm…give me….That One!" She pointed at the pistachio sign.   
  
The worker gladly got her a cone of it. Orihime paid and walked over to this pole to lean on and enjoy her snack.  
  
Once she finished… she stayed there for a few more minutes, just leaning on this pole and staring up at the sky. She should be leaving now, but something told her to stay, just a little while longer. So she did, and watched the cars pass by.

* * *

  
Then…she headed home, completed her schoolwork, and went to bed.  
  
\--------------  
\-------  
  
The sun had set. Piercing green shot open in the midst of darkness. A demon had awoken from it's slumber, stomach aching, craving for a soul. More specifically, a pure soul….  
  
In his dreams, all he saw were images of shimmering silver and fiery tresses. The pure soul, the girl, she was what he was after.  
  
How he was to obtain her, he had no idea.   
  
Ulquiorra climbed out the window and walked down the streets, into the night, his tail sliding on the ground behind him.  
  
It was deathly silent. Not a soul in sight, he couldn't even sense any roaming the streets of Karukura.   
  


* * *

  
  
Minutes turned to hours. For the part 5 hours, Ulquiorra had been wandering the streets of this town. He was getting weak from lack of energy, every passing second he was becoming more fragile, all because he couldn't find a soul to consume.  
  
His steps were long stridden and much more slower. A cold sweat began to form on his forehead, and his breaths were coming in pants as he passed a plaza.   
  
With his all-seeing eyes, he was able to make out miniature shops and shacks all together to form a weird creation. He continued to walk, passing and pole, and ----  
  
"That smell…" His eyes snapped open. Ulquiorra turned to face that pole, and could only stare at it. "That….aroma…it's…." He took a step towards it, taking another whiff of air.  
  
His mouth began to water. "So….." he was now facing it. The scent spilling from this pole was very similar to the one the girl had the previous day.   
  
"No…" Pressing his cheek against it, he took in a deeper breath. "This 'is' the girl's scent."   
  
That overwhelming feeling began to course it's way though his body once more. He moaned in pleasure and wrapped his arms around the pole, wanting to get it all over his body.  
  
Surprisingly, the pain hadn't taken over yet.  
  
He could only lightly shake from this scent, this aura, surrounding his body. The moans escaping his lips were foreign but happened on it's own accord.  
  
"It is this girl…" His embrace on the pole, which contained this girl's aura, tightened as if it was the girl herself.  
  
Although it wasn't exactly the same as before, actually touching this girl, it was close enough for now. He couldn't contain himself; the hunger in the pits of his stomach began to rumble loudly.   
  
His tongue ravished the pole, over and over again, as if licking her, taking in her pure, beautiful, and untainted scent.


	3. Responding Worlds

His nostrils were filled with her scent. He was keen on finding this girl, whether it is the one he was looking for, or just because she had a pure soul.  
  
After that little pole incident, where he had taken in all the soul remnants of that girl, Ulquiorra wandered the dark streets or Karukura. That ever-foreign yet pleasant feeling took over his whole body, while the pain fought for dominance.   
  
He would be in a state far off from reality with every step he took, in search of this girl. Then a sudden shock of pain would course threw his whole body, the aftertaste of this girl still lingering on his tongue. Then he would go back to remembering her shimmering silver orbs and drift off from reality once more.  
  
Ulquiorra's hands reached out longingly as if reaching for her.  
  
Suddenly, an ever-piercing ray of sunlight shone on Ulquiorra's back, it stung, as if it was fire on his bleached white skin. Yet not nearly as bad as the pain from the girl….  
  
He turned around, anxiety tainting his eyes. The demon had been so indulged with his thoughts of this human, he failed to keep track of time. The rays of sunlight were growing, and he knew he had to get out of there.  
  
The sun…was his enemy. Not just because of the burning sensation caused from it, but because everything that was wrong with him was shown to the world. As the saying goes, the criminals show themselves only at night. Same with Ulquiorra.  
  
When in the dark, he felt secure, hidden, it made it seem as the filthy soul he owned wasn't nearly as bad as it would be in the light. Taking away his figment of imagination, hiding from what exactly he truly was, yet he knew. Oh yes he knew.  
  
A demon….. with no home.  
  
He ran down the streets, away from the sun and into the shadows of what was left of the night as he made his way….back to his current residence.  
  


* * *

  
  
As usual Orihime awoke from her dreams in the early morning. She tiredly sat up and eyed her alarm clock, only to see it was about an hour earlier from her common time at waking up.   
  
"I must have gone to bed real early then…" she commented to herself. The young girl yawned and stretched before deciding to get ready for school, even if it was very early, for the sun was just dawning the horizon.

* * *

  
  
Ulquiorra sat on the ragged mattress in his abandoned…home. His back stung with pain, as if burnt with fire. But this pain could never be compared to the pain internally caused by this girl.  
  
His black locks fell over his face, as he blinked hazily, the time of sleep was drawing him in, and…he gave in. The demon fell on his side into the mattress, his wings folded over him as a blanket. One of his legs was hanging over on the floor…and his breathing died down…as he dreamt of shimmering silver and fiery tresses.

* * *

  
  
Orihime was dressed and set off for school.  
  
Because she woke up extra early, she took extra time getting ready. She was actually able to enjoy a long and warm shower, and create a delicious breakfast the consisted something of read bean paste.  
  
There was still plenty of time to reach Tatsuki's house, so she thought she'd take the long way.   
  
Not many people were out, most were businessmen rushing by, but Orihime managed to give them a smile or a "good morning."   
  
She would have liked it better if there were more people, gives her a better sense of life, but at least there were some sunlight and a few people.  
  
Not like that night…  
  
Orihime was entering that plaza she was at the day before when she remembered the cold and dark feeling she came to face to face with that night.  
  
"Oi…..not again." The auburn haired girl flicked her forehead as is punishing herself. "I'm only supposed to remember happy dreams. Remembering nightmares is not a good thing."  
  
And yet, she still couldn't be rid herself of that feeling, as she walked through the plaza, passed the familiar ice cream shop. The feeling as if all happiness was taken away from the world and….  
  
As she passed the pole and---  
  
Orihime stopped dead in her tracks, "…the feeling of misery…"   
She glanced behind her shoulder at the pole, the same one she was at yesterday. Her eyes widened, as she recalled being there yesterday.  
  
Hesitantly, she took a step towards it and instantly felt this....feeling….grow.   
  
The ice-cold aura, the happiness pulled from life, the misery over many centuries piled together….yes this was it.  
  
Orihime reached her hand up, her eyes still as big as saucers, and touched the pole. It was as cold as ice, odd since it was under the sun's rays, as images from her 'dream' began to course through her mind.  
  
"Was it…actually a dream?"  
  
Out of all the dreams, Orihime has had, whether it be a nightmare or not, there was never a feeling she was able to pinpoint in reality. This was the first time she actually felt the same way as in her dream.  
  
Yet still, past the pole, was the same feeling. She followed it, carefully detecting which way to go.   
  
It wasn't a long distance from the pole, only about 10 feet before she was unable to detect a clear path of the misery. But now, she knew, something was here. Was it because she was here yesterday? If so, then she'd stay here again.   
  
Not now though, it was time for Tatsuk's place at the moment.  
  
The young girl took a step back and stared up at the sky. "It was not a dream." She clutched her schoolbag, the sight of glowing predatory eyes came to mind, the demon….  
  
"Thank You…for rescuing me that night…" Her goal was to say that to the creature's face. How? She did not know how, but she knew she'd find a way.   
  


* * *

  
  
About two miles away from Karukura was yet another quaint town. Down the streets, passed the buildings and homes, was a forest.  
  
Passed a few bushes and land, towards a tree with a gaping hollow, stood two angels.   
  
One had orange hair and brown eyes. The other was quite short with raven black hair. Both were dresses in white cloaks and held a staff.  
  
"He was here…" The raven-haired angel spoke up, pointing her staff towards the tree. "A few days ago…." She added.  
  
The orange haired angel took a step closer and sniffed the air. "As filthy as always, that demon."  
  
"Ichigo, we've been after him for years…."   
  
Said, angel turned towards her. "And? What do you want us to do Rukia?" The raven-haired spirit frowned, "He only eats souls of those that were meant for Hell, maybe it's betrayal?"  
  
Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows. "If so he wouldn't be on the run, and no other demons are after him. Betrayal? I doubt it. They probably banished him. Dam bastards can't get rid of him themselves, instead leaving that hunk of filth in this world."  
  
"Or…" Rukia started.  
  
"Or?"   
  
"He's in search or something." She said, leaning on one of the trees, "Maybe one of…them."  
  
"You don't mean…"  
  
Rukia nodded. "I do….I mean, it doesn't make sense when you think about it. Demons are after all, born from misery. They're not stupid either, he should know its hopeless, and yet he is still fighting. There's nothing in this world a demon could have of use besides souls for food, while there's plenty of food in Hell to begin with…and….them."  
  
Ichigo nodded, "But still, even after having one of them…what the fuck happens? I'd like to know. They make such a big deal of them, they say to bring them to Heaven if we ever meet one, but still I wanna know, what happens when a demon devours a…pure soul?"  
  
The raven-haired shinigami began walking off. "I don't know…they say the devil had one and he gained mass power, but I doubt it. It's only a legend. Either way though, if this demon is in search of one, we'll just beat him to it and take them to Heaven."  
  
She paused for a moment, "But the chances of that are slim. Last time anyone found a pure soul was 200 years ago."  
  
"What happened to them?" Ichigo asked, following the angel ahead of him.  
  
"They took him to Heaven and made use of his powers."  
  
The orange head nodded, "But you're right," he added, "God I just want to get rid of this guy and go home."  
  
At that, the two angels walked away from the scene, in search for this demon.  
  
\----------  
  
School day was passing as usual. Orihime ate lunch outside with Nel and Tatsuki. Nel was another one of the young girl's friends. They weren't as close as her and Tatsuki, but she was a good friend nonetheless.  
  
But of course…meaningless school gossip arose from the small group.  
  
"Orihime, he looked at you again today in class. I swear he was staring for a whole minute."  
  
The auburn haired girl was barely aware of the current conversation. "A huh…"  
  
"He so has the hots for you." Nel continued, "A nice guy like Ishida checking you out, geez I'm jealous."  
  
"What do you think, Orihime?" The green haired girl asked.  
  
"Oh..yeah…" She answered, staring off into space, her cheek resting in the palm of her hand. "Orihime?" Tatsuki asked as well, "You seem rather dazed, more so than usual."  
  
The silver-eyed girl jumped, "Oh, what was that Tatsuki?"  
  
Her raven-haired friend sighed. "Never mind."  
  


* * *

  
  
Once the final bell rang, Orihime found herself dashing out the door. She was eager in going to a specific spot today…  
  
She rushed past the crowds of people in the town of Karukura, making her way to the familiar plaza. It took her a good while to locate the ice cream shop, and right past it, the pole.   
  
She smiled lightly and made her way towards it.  
  
Even it was just a figment of her imagination, she just had this gut feeling something she met before came towards that area. She could sense it.  
  
Her hand made contact with the metal. The sense of dread and ice reached her. A slight smile tugged at her lips, recalling coming face to face with it. Pinpointing her energy into the pole, she was able to feel the icy cold melt away with the warmth radiating from her hand.  
  
"Just a little bit more." She pressured herself. Orihime had to let the creature know she'd return his calls. Taking a step, she began walking away, leaving her soul trail to flow behind her, purposely.    
  
Orihime smiled. She felt proud of herself for doing something as eccentric as this. But she knew, if she told any of her friends about this, they'd think she was crazier then before. At the same time though, a disappointing thought reached her mind.  
  
"What if he doesn't respond?"  
  
Pushing it aside, she made her way home to begin her schoolwork, and go to bed.  
  


* * *

  
  
The sun had set, and yet again, green eyes shot into the darkness.  
  
The burning sensation on Ulquiorra's back disappeared, and it was time to go on the hunt for a soul to eat. Although that would have been the normal plan on any other night, today was different. He'll go back to that place….she was the only thing contaminating his thoughts.  
  


* * *

  
  
Hurriedly, he jumped out the window, spreading his magnificent black wings, and descended into the sky.  
  
From a bird's eye view, he pinpointed each and every location in Karukura, in search of where he was the previous night. Although angels can easily spot him in the sky, he couldn't help himself. Flying was quicker, and the faster he got to that pole, to see if her scent was even there, the better.  
  
Finally he found it, a sense of eagerness coursed through him as he made his way down to the ground.   
  
Ulquiorra landed gracefully, about ten feet away from the-oh so familiar piece of metal. Taking a deep breath, he could smell it.   
  
"She was here again."  
  
He rushed towards the area and once again took another whiff of air. A smile almost tugged at his lips, if only he was capable of such things.  
  
It was more then before, more then the previous night. He knew it, she felt his presence here and responded back to him with her oh so…sweet….scent. His cheek rested on the metal, a sigh of content escaped his lips.  
  
The pleasure began to take over.  
  
How lucky he was. It was rare for anyone to meet a pure soul. In Hell, one demon spoke of it, that was 200 years ago. Another spoke of one they met 500 years ago, and another from 1000 years ago.  
  
Now look where he was. He almost had her in his grasp, she was actually responding with him. Most demons would most certainly only have thoughts of eating one, but for Ulquiorra, it wasn't so. He didn't know what'd he do, but he knew he wouldn't eat her.  
  
Then the pain took over.


	4. Beauty of the Night

He followed her scent in the night.   
  
It was strong, so strong that Ulquiorra felt as if he was in a state of bliss with every step he took. He was able to dominate over the pain for now, for his destination was towards this girl.  
  
His icy cold skin was slowly gaining heat from her soul trail, he felt warm. It was a strange but a pleasant sensation. It was…heartwarming.   
  
This experience, the only way one can describe it was like putting yourself through a strainer. The filth and dirt that's part of you being left behind, and only the purity was present.  
  
As if he was being cleansed….  
  
Ulquiorra's eyes were half lidded, as he wandered in a state far off from reality. He was unable to really see where he was going; her trail was the only thing guiding him. For all he was able to see was a human girl bathed in sunlight, her fiery tresses flowing behind her in the wind, and her shimmering silver orbs.   
  
This was so unlike the demon. He had lived his whole life for himself, then someone he only met once, was enough to make him go completely mad.   
  
Right now though, he couldn't seem to get a hold of himself, he was so close to seeing her. Every step he took he could feel himself being drawn closer towards her pure soul

* * *

  
  
After a few minutes of wandering the streets, her trails lead him to a small home in a decent neighborhood. Bur Ulqiuorra wasn't paying attention to that, not at all.   
  
From the ground, he could see this small home had two floors. His predatory eyes were on the window of the 2nd floor, he knew she was there.  
  
But an uneasy thought raced threw his mind. Odd considering he was unable to come up with any logic at the moment.  
  
What if she was afraid of him?  
  
Finally taking control of himself, he took a step away from the house. Ulquiorra knew what he was. A demon, a monster, a filthy soul….how many words can be used to describe the garbage he was.  
  
Someone like this girl, he was unworthy of even being in her presence. Reality was finally starting to crash down on him.  
  
Out of all the human girls he had ever came in contact with, they would runaway screaming. Who's to say this girl wouldn't do the same?  
  
The creature blinked slowly, his eyes were getting wetter, but no he would not cry. It was impossible for a creature like him to do such things. He had no remorse, no guilt for what he had done to all the people he killed, he was incapable of doing such things.  
  
When he thought about it, was he actually afraid to see her? That was what he was coming up with, was it not? He was afraid of what her reaction would be towards him. Never in Ulquiorra's life, had he ever cared what others thought of him. So why now?  
  
Unable to come up with a reasonable response, the smell of her soul was drawing him in once more, as he was pulled away into the state of bliss.  
  
The demon walked towards her home. Currently, he just wanted to see her again. He desired to see her again, no matter what her reaction was towards him; he knew he had to see her.  
  
Spreading his wings, he descended up towards the window. Why it was open in the middle of the night, he didn't know. The demon landed on the windowsill in a crouched position; peering into the bedroom, his eyes landed on a bed.  
  
Within it was a sleeping form, the source of the-oh so sweet soul. Ulquiorra's eyes widened at the sight. He lightly took a step on the floor, followed by his next foot. The demon folded his wings as he stood completely inside the room.  
  
His lips were agape, his eyes were wide, and every step he took was dragged as he made his way closer.  
  
The sight of her auburn colored hair came into sight as the light from the moon enveloped her entire being. Ulquiorra could hear her breathing, it was soft…peaceful.  
  
He made his way around the bed oh so quietly.   
  
Once he saw her face, he froze. The demon was at the end of her bed, his shadow from the moon falling over her. It was only a small glimpse, but he just couldn't move. He didn't know whether or not to pursue this, but he knew he couldn't leave after getting this close. Even from his current position, her beauty was overwhelming, and he wanted to get closer.  
  
Her face came into full view after a few more furtive steps.   
  
His breathing hitched, as he took in the sight.  
  
She was laying on her side, her fiery hair fell around her, and lips were agape. Such a serene expression…..almost like a….  
  
He couldn't say an angel, he's seen them before. They are nothing but robots for God. They aren't the beauty most people come to see them as. But this human girl, fit all the descriptions of what everyone counts them to be. She was really an angel.  
  
No…she was a pure soul  
  
Ulquiorra gently brought himself to the ground, resting on his knees; now their faces were at the same level. Her warm breath reached his face, and the demon almost fell over from the pleasure.  
  
It was just so much, so overwhelming, and yet he knew wanted more. She was like his drug.  
  
Ulquiorra lifted his talon and lightly grazed it across her cheek. The moment he touched her, that same feeling coursed through him as it did when they first met. So soft…  
  
He brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear…she stirred lightly, but he didn't pull away. Her scent was to intoxicating….  
  
His thumb brushed by her eyes and down to her chin, he held it up so she would turn slightly to face him. The demon drew in closer to get a better look at her beauty, so close he could feel her breathing.  
  
So…delicious.  
  
The creature licked her cheek, and dear God, she tasted so good; he continued down her face and towards the crook of her neck. He buried his head there and sniffed her, his free hand running itself through her luscious hair.   
  
Ulquiorra couldn't stop. The beauty of this girl was vast and the reaction she was causing him was extraordinary.   
  
The demon nibbled the supple skin of her neck, her warmth enveloping him.   
  
Ulquiorra was so cold, and being around this heat made him realize just how drastic the difference was. He wanted his whole body to feel it….  
  
His other hand swept under her arm, and pulled her closer towards him, but very gently.  
  
The demon could have her soul right now if he pleased, but he just couldn't find himself to do so. All the souls he had eaten were all tainted and meant for Hell, but this girl was so different. She was too pure for even Heaven.  
  
Ulquiorra held her tighter.  
  
A small moan came from the girl. It was a strange sound to hear, for the demon didn't know what it meant or what it was. But he did know, that he never wanted to let her go.  
  
The human's body heat was melting his icy cold aura, and the pleasure was ecstatic. Never in his life had he felt this way, not even when they first met. This was far from it, it was simply amazing…  
  
Ulquiorra brought his tongue up towards her ear and took in all that was her. His eyes were half lidded from the bliss he was in, and he sighed in content. This girl really was his drug, he couldn't get enough.   
  
The creature held her there, breathing in the scent of her soul, for even that was enough to nourish him. He felt so warm having her in his grasp. Although the sun's rays were warm too, the human's heat didn't burn him as the sun did.   
  
Funny, he doesn't even know her name  
  
He lay there for who knows how long. His head resting in the crook of her neck, his arm around her, pulling her towards him, and his other hand was in the her hair. The demon's eyes were closed and his breathing was steady.  
  
In this state, he manager to utter the words, "beautiful…." Against the skin of her neck…  
  
\-----  
  
The sound of a blaring alarm awoke Ulquiorra. His eyes shot open to find himself in the human's room, still in the same position he was in from the previous night.  
  
"Shit." He cursed under his breath. He could see the sun dawning the horizon, he had to get out of there.   
  
He felt something move beneath him, Ulquiorra looked down and saw the girl.  
  
This wasn't good, the fear of what she would do when she saw him caused his blood to race. Then there was the sun he had to worry about.  
  
Ulquiorra jumped to his feet and ran towards the window, looking back one final time at the human, before descending into the sky.  
  
As he left though, he didn't notice the girl sit up, only catching the sight of a black tail sliding out her window.  
  


* * *

  
  
Orihime awoke at the sound of footsteps, but once she did actually open her eyes, all she saw was a black tail sliding out her window. She rushed out of bed, in hope of it being whom she thought it was, and made her way towards the window.  
  
She found nothing but the sunrise. That was when she noticed the feeling, that icy cold aura enveloped her entire being, but it was mostly present around her face. Her eyes widened as she brought hand up to her cheek.  
  
"He was here…"  
  
Orihime felt the demon's presence all around her, but she was not afraid. She was overjoyed.  
  
"He was here! He was here! He was here!" She bounced up and down, her nightgown flowing with her. "I think I saw him too! Haha I knew this was a good idea, he followed that trail I left him. Smart demon he is."  
  
A huge smile was spread across Orihime's face. Her plan had worked, but unfortunately, she was unable to actually see him.   
  
"I'll have to stay up all night if I plan to see him. Or I can actually meet him at that plaza place! Oh boy this is so exciting."  
  
The auburn haired girl ran around her house feeling joyous that her plan had worked, as she got ready for school.

* * *

  
  
Ulquiorra flapped his wings harder. The sun was rising faster by the minute and the burning sensation was beginning to take it's toll on his body.  
  
"Dammit."  
  
He was afraid, to think, Ulquiorra the demon was afraid of a human girl.  
  
"What would she have done if she saw me?" He asked himself. Scream, punch him, kick him, run….all were reasonable possibilities. If only he had stayed, for he wished to know what would happen.  
  
Her pure scent still enveloped his body, and the pleasure was still there, but he could feel it, the pain began taking over. His hollow hole throbbed with agony  
  
Along with that was the burning sensation, it was taking a toll on his body and he found it extremely hard to fly. "Just a little bit longer." He couldn't give up, no matter how painful it was. If he didn't keep fighting the pain, he'll never be able to see the girl again.  
  
The sight of her sleeping form came to mind…..he knew he would see her again the next night. That was enough to keep fighting, and at that, he flapped his bat wings harder, determined to get back to his…current residence.


	5. In Return, I Shall Protect You

Orihime practically ran out of the classroom once the final bell rung, not even waiting to walk with Tatsuki.  
  
She was so excited, for she knew she'd see 'him' tonight. The young girl had a goal set in mind, she would say thank you to the demon for rescuing her, then probably asked why he smacked her hand away after reaching out to her. That whole situation was still puzzling.  
  
The thought of food came to mind, "I should cook him something too!" Orihime thought about it for a second, "I wonder what demons eat…" If only she knew.   
  
Although she witnessed him actually devour a soul, she still never really knew what he was doing. The auburn haired girl simply thought he was be ridding those men for her safety.  
  
Orihime reached home in a huff and immediately started her schoolwork, waiting for tonight….  
  


* * *

  
  
Ulquiorra sat on his worn down mattress. He could not sleep, although it was the day, he slept both yesterday and the previous night. This whole day of practically sleeping caused him to feel this way now. Not tired.  
  
Yet he knew he must sleep, for when he visited the girl's place tonight, he needed his strength. He did not want to fall asleep again, he'd rather mask in her beauty.  
  
The demon's inky black locks fell over his face, as his thoughts once again wandered over to fiery tresses being blown in the wind.

* * *

  
  
"Yes! I have finished!" Although it took Orihime most of the day to finally complete her mass amount of schoolwork, she was joyous that it was done.   
  
Now it was time to plan for tonight.  
  
She rushed over to see if the window was opened, it was. She ran around her house to clean some stuff up and picked her clothes off the floor.  
  
Once she finished, she took a shower and got ready for bed.

* * *

  
  
And yet, Ulquiorra found himself unable to sleep, waiting tentatively for the sun to set, and once it did, he didn't hesitate jumping out the window, spreading his magnificent black wings.  
  
Ulquiorra thought about it. The girl felt his presence by the pole and lead a trail to her home. Could that mean that she was not afraid of him? And after the demon's visit the previous night, he could bet that she felt his presence there as well  
  
"If only I had stayed…."  
  
He didn't know what to expect when going there this time. He just wanted to see her, and that was that.  
  


* * *

  
  
"Ichigo I got his trace, he's around here somewhere!" Rukia shouted. The orange haired angel quickly ran after her. He could sense him too, but no he wasn't on the ground….  
  
Ichigo's head shot up when he felt the demon's presence increase. In the sky, he could see a monster flying above their heads. "Over there!" He took a hold of his staff and pointed it in the direction of the demon.   
  
"Your existence ends now, demon."

* * *

  
  
Ulquiorra heard shouting below him and glanced in the direction of it, but only to find a swarm of white visible power headed right for him. Beyond it, he could see the two angels that had been after him. To think he wasn't thinking clearly to be able to sense them.  
  
Flapping his wings just in time, he rose above the attack as it crashed into the building behind him, causing a huge explosion.  
  
"It is your duty to protect this world and all you manage to do is destroy it." Ulquiorra accused, still hovering above the two angels, the smoke from the explosion engulfing them all.  
  
"Shut up!" Ichigo shouted, "We don't eat the people in this world like you do, you're in no place say anything."  
  
Ulquiorra shrugged. "I never said I was protecting anyone, so I am not in the place to say I am. But I do have the right to---"     
  
Before he could finish his sentence, something from behind him sent him into the ground, knocking the breath out of him.   
"Nice shot Rukia!" Ichigo sounded from below. The raven-haired angel nodded. Before they could continue their praising though, the demon stood back up. If it was fighting they were after, then they were going to get it.    
  
His talons twitched slightly, only before a magnificent swarm of green light appeared. He grasped it and immediately threw it towards the female angel.

* * *

  
  
As Orihime waited in her room, she heard explosions from afar and felt the presence of many unworldly things. The power of it, even from the distance she was at, made her head ache with pain.   
  
She had never been confronted with anything unworldly other than this demon, and those few times he had actually been in her presence, he never exerted enough energy to cause her whole body to quake.  
  
But right now from afar, she could feel his power. The only difference is that it was stronger. She could feel the darkness smothering her entire home, it wasn't just that though, she could sense two other beings.  
  
Suddenly, her entire house began to shake from the energy waves from whatever was going on out there. Orihime tried to grab onto something stable. The closest thing in her reach was her closet door, and she held onto it for dear life. The power was overwhelming her senses to a point where she fell to her knees.   
  
Were her neighbors experiencing this phenomenon as well?  
  
She looked out her window. The moon's light fell into her room, but then she saw a flash of white from the distance. A few seconds later, an explosion of energy blasted. The power once again sent her home and her mind trembling.   
  
Taking a deep breath once the power died down, Orihime looked back out the window. This time though, her eyes widened when she saw him. He wasn't close though, but she could make out his form in the moonlight. She squinted to make him out better.   
  
She observed in his hand was a blazing green light. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Suddenly, she saw another flash of white; it wasn't like the explosion though.   
  
It was Ice.  
  
Right before it reached him though, he turned to face her, and she was sure he had seen her.   
  


* * *

  
  
Rukia fired her staff towards the demon in the air.  
  
Ulquiorra made note that it was nothing special and he would dodge at the last second. But then he felt another presence. Turning slightly, his eyes widened when he saw her, only before the ice crashed into him and sent him into the ground.

* * *

  
  
Orihime screamed and jumped to her feet. She knew he had seen her, and whatever these things that wore hurting him, she would….she would. Well she didn't know what she would do.  
  
Of course, without thinking, she ran out of her room, down her stairs, and passed the front door; sleeping gown and all.  
  
She ran down the streets, trying to sense out the demon to find where exactly he was.  
  


* * *

  
  
On the ground in a heap lay Ulquiorra. Pieces of ice were jabbed into his arms and legs. He tried to move, it hurt, but he could move. He breathed heavily, his black hair falling over his eyes, trying to stand back up.  
  
All of a sudden, he felt something knock his head back on the ground.  
  
Standing behind the demon was Ichigo, his foot keeping the monster back on the ground. Using that same foot, he kicked the demon in the ribs, knocking the breath out of him.  
  
Ichigo had a look of indifference; his arms were crossed as he turned to Rukia, who was walking towards the scene. "Wanna finish him off?" He asked. The raven haired angel shrugged, walking closer.

* * *

  
  
Orihime could sense the energy dying down, but she could still sense out the demon and the two other beings. They were right around this building. Her heart beat faster in her body, and a cold sweat broke out.  
  
She had no idea what she was doing or how she was going to do it. Something in her just told her to run, and that's what she did. She ran around the end of the building and turned the corner.   
  
When she saw two beings dressed in white cloaks, she stopped and hid behind the building. She peeked her head though, and on the ground by these two mystical beings was the demon.  
  
The foot of the orange haired being was pressing his head into the ground while the other was walking closer.  
  
"Back away Ichigo, if I plan on finishing him off for good, it'd be best for you to get the hell out of the way." The ravened haired being spoke, only before pulling out her staff. He backed away  
  
"Two years of this shit finally ends." She pointed it towards the demon.   
  
Orihime watched, horrified.   
  
Are they going to kill him?!  
  
She took notice of the demon's expression. The beaten look, the scratches, the marks. It all caused something inside her to break.  
  
Then the being's staff began to glow a white light.  
  
'No No!'  
  
The electrical power was growing and was about to fire.  
  
"No!!"   
  
A flash of orange sparked. Orihime screamed.

* * *

  
  
Just as the power from Rukia's staff was released in the demon's face, a flash or orange appeared, strong enough to blind an eye momentarily.   
  
"What the….."  
  
The energy from the angel's staff crashed, but not into the demon…..for surrounding the creature was an orange shield.  
  
"Rukia, what is that?!" Ichigo bellowed, coming closer.

* * *

  
  
Ulquiorra was cold. Very cold. The ice, as glass, was still in his body and the kicks blown from the angel ached with pain. But then, he heard a scream.  
  
And then he was devoured with warmth. The pain, he felt, began to melt away.  
  


* * *

  
  
"Get away from him!"   
  
For the life of her, Orihime had no idea what she was doing. When that orange shield appeared after her scream, she was just more confused. But this demon saved her life, and she was going to return the favor.  
  
Ichigo and Rukia glanced behind them at the sight of the human. She was dressed in a white sleeping gown, and her hair was in disarray.   
  
"Rukia, can humans see us?" Ichigo asked, confused.  
  
She shook her head, "They can't see angels but they can see demons."  
  
"Then…what is she?" Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows.  
  
Orihime took a deep breath. "I said, get away from him!"  
  
Disregarding the human's words, Rukia turned her attention back towards the demon. She widened her eyes when she saw all the injuries he once had, were gone. Eyes still tripled in size, she turned back to the human. "She is….."  
  
"What the hell is this thing?" Ichigo asked, looking back at the shield still doing its work as well. He kicked it, causing it to shatter into pieces. "Just finish him off already, Rukia." Ichigo arched his foot back, preparing to kick the demon square in the face.  
  
Orihime's fear returned. "Don't touch him!" Another flash of orange light erupted. As if her anger controlled it, the orange light went straight for the angel and sliced his leg.  
  
"Ah fuck!" Ichigo screamed, the light slicing through his skin to the bone.   
  
"Ichigo get away from her! She's---" Before Rukia could finish, another swarm of light erupted and this time headed straight for her, sending her flying into the building behind her.  
  


* * *

  
  
Ulquiorra finally opened his eyes, only to see an orange light come from the girl and smash into the angel.   
  
He watched as the girl fell to her knees, exhausted. She had no idea what just happened, but she felt her energy drained.  
  
"She's an ally of the demon!" Ichigo pointed his staff at the girl, "We'll get rid of both of you."  
  
Orihime looked up tiredly as the light from the staff was headed right towards her. Time slowed down, and she found she had no energy to even try to get out of the way. It was coming closer as her eyes tiredly closed.   
  
All noise fell silent as she awaited the pain.  
  


* * *

  
  
She felt weightless as if she was flying. Once she was finally able to gain her senses back, Orihime felt something wrapped around her waist and the distinct rhythm of wind in her face.  
  
She finally opened her eyes, only to realize she was flying


	6. Tainted Fear

Shall we take a look at the passing of time? When everything that was right turned wrong and everything that was wrong turned right…..  
  
A pure soul is a being that's untainted, grander than the angel's of God and beautiful both on the outside and inside of the world. They were not perfect, for no being was, but they were pure, and this was something many people desired.  
  
Every 200 years a pure soul is born. The power coming with this miraculous human is the ability to draw famished demons towards them. But there is a self-defense system already construed within them.  
  
When a demon is confronted with a pure soul, they will be engulfed with a full wave of overwhelming pleasure. It is hard to describe, some say this feeling feels as if their soul was being put through a strainer and all the filth of their past was left behind. They felt purified.  
  
This feeling of being cleansed, one could call it, may be temporary but it was still craved my many demons. Along with this feeling, their mouth would water and they'd find themselves unable to move.  
  
At that moment, the pure soul would usually make its escape.   
  
If in a situation where the lust and desire the demon had was immense, then they'd be able to gain the ability to move. Of course, their goal would be to devour this pure soul, so that they may be filled with this wonderful feeling.   
  
It would be uncommon if one were to devour a pure soul, for they were rare enough to find. But it would not be the end of the world. The only effect it would have on the demon would be that it's hunger would be sustained for a century.  
  
On some occasions, it is said that a demon may rape the human before devouring their soul. The feeling of bliss they were in of course didn't allow them to think of their actions or the consequences. All they knew in that moment was they wanted all this pure soul had to offer for their pleasure.  
  
And this pleasure was grand in itself.   
  
That situation would be rare though. For as a backup line of self-defense in case the demon gains the ability to move, their feeling of pleasure would be washed away with an anguishing pain. To describe this pain would be near impossible, almost as much as bearing it oneself.  
  
Then the human would take the chance on initiating an escape route, leaving the demon behind to suffer in this despair.  
  
But…..there was a different type of pure soul, one that had the powers to overthrown God himself. Only two of these of souls would be born throughout all of eternity.  
  
Many many centuries ago, this kind of pure soul was born. The devil got their hands on it, and that of course was the day that….everything changed.  
  


* * *

  
  
"You fool!" Rukia roared, swinging her staff towards the angel she was joined up with for this mission. "Do you have any idea what you've done?!" She was furious.  
  
Ichigo dodged the attack of the meek angel easily, but a wave of confusion plastered itself upon his face. "What did I do?!" He asked, dodging another swing.  
  
"Do you have any idea who that was whom you just attacked?  Did it not go through your mind at all that this was not a normal human you were dealing with, and yet you still attacked her, are you completely dense?!"  
  
"She was helping that demon!" Ichigo countered, "She attacked both of us! What did you want me to do?!"  
  
"I wanted you to NOT attack her!" Tears began to stain the angel's eyes. "Do…you have any idea what Aizen would have done to us if that girl had died…" Her voice fell to a mere whisper. Her hands found their way to her head and she rustled them through her hair relentlessly, a sign of distress.  
  
Rukia's eyes widened in horror at the thought of what Aizen would have done to them. He was not a kind God. He was merciless and disposed of anyone who got in his way.   
  
Of course though, in the most painful and tormenting way possible.  
  
You'd be lucky if he killed you on the spot. But for the unlucky ones, he would sometimes confine you in this dimension for all eternity. No one really knew what happened in there, for no one had ever been able to return from it to say.  
  
Rumors had made it clear though that it was a place of desolation and something worse than death itself. The imagination was one's greatest fear, for it can wander to all the possibilities, and that was a terror in itself.  
  
Rukia's hands began to shake as they rustled through her hair some more.  
  
"Not only that…but now the demon has her. If the devil gets a hold of her…then…then……"  
  
The mere thought shook the angel to the core with nothing but raw horror.  
  
She went to her knees, shaking as her mind wandered to all the possibilities as to what would come from this turn of events.  
  
Ichigo watched her…..a sort of pain of guilt tainting his eyes. He didn't think he had done anything wrong. He simply attacked someone who was aiding the enemy. Was it really that bad?  
  
When he thought about it though, her powers were extraordinary, but why would it deem so much harm if he had killed her. Just what was she? The reaction it was drawing from Rukia must mean that this human was pretty important.   
  
He was about to ask Rukia himself, but the sound of her voice dawned him back to reality. It was a whisper, but he could hear it  
  
"If only you had just calmly spoke to her…she would have agreed to come with us. If you hadn't attacked her then the demon wouldn't have needed to save her and take her with him. If you only thought before you act."   
  
She was on the ground, huddling her knees close to her shaking form.   
  
The moon had hidden behind the dark clouds that began to gather, although it was hard to tell for it was the night.  
  
Ichigo approached her cautiously. The crackling of thunder was heard above them, and the smell of rain was present.  
  
"Rukia…just who is that girl?"  
  
The rain began to pour. The roaring thunder followed a flash of lighting.  
  
The raven-haired angel lifted her head slightly. All fear drained away and was replaced with a serious look.  
  
"She's 'the' pure soul."  
  


* * *

  
  
Souring through the clouds of the night sky flew a demon. In his hand, he carried a human. But of course, not just any human, this girl has single-handedly saved his life. If she hadn't appeared when she did, then those angels would have surely killed him.  
  
Now, her energy was drained and she lay motionless in his hands as he held her bridal style.  
  


* * *

  
He watched as the girl fell to her knees, exhausted. She had no idea what just happened, but she felt her energy drained.  
  
"She's an ally of the demon!" Ichigo pointed his staff at the girl, "We'll get rid of both of you."  
  
Orihime looked up tiredly as the light from the staff was headed right towards her.

* * *

  
  
In those last few moments just as the attack was nearing her, the girl managed to turn to face the demon. Their eyes had locked in an instant and her expression immediately went to that of peace and serene.  
  
It was as if she had accepted the death that was nearing by the second, but the fact that she had saved him made her….content?  
  
As if acting on pure instinct, Ulquiorra used all his power to reach the human girl, passing the orange haired angel with amazing speeds. Lifting her off the ground and spreading his wings, he made it just in time as an explosion of raw energy set off behind him, burning the end of his tail.  
  
Of course, though, they were in fact touching, and Ulquiorra tried with all his might to keep his mind under control, not falling into that state of bliss. If that were to happen he wouldn't be able to stop himself…and he knew just exactly what would happen.   
  
The moon was ravishingly beautiful tonight, it engulfed the human girl in his arms with light, so that even in the hands of a demon she still had the image purer than an angel.  
  
His eyes fell on her face. Flawless, absolutely flawless, and from past experiences, he knew it to be extremely soft as well. He was tempted to graze his fingers across her cheeks, but of course, that would risk dropping her.   
  
Ulquiorra shook his head. He had to get a hold of himself at the moment.  This was a very serious situation. His existence might have very well affected this girl's life  
  
He recalled her powers; they were not something a normal human had. There was a feeling of déjà vu actually. He knew from the beginning that she was a pure soul, be it if she was the one he was in search of, or not.  
  
But after this recent happening, it couldn't be made clearer that this was the girl. What to do with her? Well….he didn't know.  
  
For now….he would take her home.  
  
The rain clouds were catching up to them. The lightning was what caused Ulquiorra to descend from the clouds, and he was surprised when the thunder didn't wake the girl. She was still alive, just very weak at the moment.  
  
The demon was still high in the sky when he felt something wriggling in his arms. He cautiously looked down to see the girl, wide eyed, staring at him.  
  
Lightning struck and thunder crackled, as the rain began to pour.  
  


* * *

  
  
''She felt weightless as if she was flying. Once she was finally able to gain her senses back, Orihime felt something wrapped around her waist and the distinct rhythm of wind in her face.  
  
She finally opened her eyes, only to realize she was flying''

* * *

  
  
At first it could be a feeling of harmony, but when Orihime realized something was holding her, she felt fur underneath the backs of her knees and neck. She snapped her eyes to the creature holding her, and just as she did so, a lightning bolt struck, illuminating his demonic form.  
  
Dark eyes, the shadow from the electric bolt masking over his expression, the dark wings behind him, the marks, the horns…….it was absolutely terrifying.  
  
But the rain started to pour, soaking both of them to the bone almost immediately.

* * *

  
  
Ulquiorra could see it on her face……fear. She, as did everyone else, feared him. It wasn't surprising, but it set off a nerve within him. Even after she had left a trail for him to follow, even after she came out to rescue him, a creature she barely knew to begin with, she feared him.   
  


* * *

  
  
It was hard too see clearly in the rain, but Orihime could have sworn that after she had faced this creature carrying her, his eyes lidded themselves nearly closed, almost as if he was sad, and the tear marks on his face only made that statement much more distinct.   
  
His eyes then completely closed and he turned away from her as he inaudibly sighed.  
  
Orihime realized they began to descend into the city.

* * *

  
  
The whole time while in the sky, Ulquiorra in all honestly had no idea where he was going. He decided he would just fly around the city for a bit until he felt the presence of the angel's vanish, meaning they went back to Heaven. They were injured and obviously needed to recover before coming after him again.  
  
Now that they were gone, Ulquiorra would now take the girl home. There was nothing else he needed from her….although that feeling of pleasure he was experiencing from touching her was grand, she still feared him…just like everyone else. So he didn't need to be around her……anymore.

* * *

  
  
An air current engulfed the demon and human, almost causing Ulquiorra to lose his grip on the girl. Before he could tighten his grasp though, the girl yelped and threw her arms around the creature, so that she would not fall.    
  
An electrifying sensation coursed through Ulquiorra in that moment. His exposed neck was being touched by this girl and her head so close to his; although they were both damp wet, this just sent shudders throughout his whole body.  
  
He didn't push her away, as Orihime held on tightly. This was one severe storm.  
  
The girl's home came into view, luckily for Ulquiorra though; the window was wide open, unlucky for the girl considering it was pouring.  
  
The auburn haired girl snapped her head forward to see her 2nd floor window coming into view.  
  
So it really was this demon that visited her last night…she thought. For he knew where she lived. But it could very well be that he saw her through her window during his battle, just before that swarm of ice attacked him.  
  
But that feeling…..that same feeling of despair was all around her. It was him…and he had saved her yet again.  
  


* * *

  
  
Ulquiorra folded his wings as he lightly stepped onto her windowsill. He had to crouch down and grab hold of the frame for it was very slippery. Now that he only had one hand free to carry the girl, he lowered it down to her waist, pulling her closer to him.  
  
She gasped at this and looked up at the demon. He held a blank expression.   
  
The demon peered his head into her bedroom, reaching one leg onto the floor, and then the other, folding his wings back just enough to fit. He stood up straight in the girl's home. He held her to his chest with one arm and looked around.  
  
They were both dripping with water.   
  
Orihime realized the creature hadn't released his hold on her, for she was being strongly held against him, her toes couldn't even touch the ground.  
  
Ulquiorra's eyes lidded close blissfully and opened at the same pace. He was starting to fall into that state again, and in his hands was the being that was causing it.  
  


* * *

  
  
It was sort of awkward, so Orihime put both her hands on the demon's chest and pushed lightly. Signaling she wanted to be put down.  
  
He looked down to face her when he felt her moving. She blinked, the droplets of water dripped from her eyelashes.   
  
His free hand that rested at his side twitched, he wanted to touch her; but he was able to force that feeling down for the moment. The creature bent over slightly until the girl was able to touch the floor and released his hold on her.  
  
Orihime's hair stuck to her damp face. The demon stood back up straightly, and they both stood there looking at each other. No words were passed. The aura of both a pure soul and a demon were in the same room.  
  
The pure soul with the powers…..  
  
A rare event in itself.  
  
Her scent was delicious, mouthwatering. It seemed though Ulquiorra, being around her and her soul scent for as long as he had, he became immune to the immobility that should have occurred just by being around her.   
  
But the pain was something you could not hide from. For now….the immunity was only able to keep the pain at a distance within his being. It would come, but it would take a while.  
  
His hand twitched again when he actually took notice of this girl in whole. The white sleeping gown she wore was clinging to her body because it was wet, and due to it's color, some skin was able to seep into the fabric.   
  
The demon's eyes widened when they reached her chest. For obvious reasons….especially how she was presented in the moment.  
  
"I…um…." He heard the human begin to speak, snapping him back to reality….for the time being.   
  
Ulquiorra turned around and began walking towards the window. He did not need to be around someone who feared him, even if he desired to be around her.  
  
Orihime furrowed her eyebrows in confusion when the demon walked away from her. Her eyes widened when he started climbing out the window.  
  
If he left now, who knows if he'll ever be back?  
  
"W-wait!" She called out, taking a step forward and grabbing his hand that hung at his side.   
  
The moment her fingers wrapped around Ulquiorra's wrist was caused him to freeze. Not that he couldn't move, for he had become immune to that; but that a wave of indulgence sped through his hand over his whole body, so much of it that he couldn't move for a moment.  
  
"Where are you going?"   
  
The demon turned his head slowly to face her. His emerald eyes locked onto her silver orbs, the gaze was so strong it was like boring holes into her soul. But what surprised him was that she did not look afraid.  
  
His eyes widened slightly at this, for in her eyes, he could see the act of pleading.  
  
"Who knows." He replied simply, turning back to the window. The rain was still pouring.  
"You should stay low for a while, they'll probably be after you as well." He said.  
  
His voice was serene and deep. It sent shivers up Orihime's spine, but it did not scare her.  
  
"Who were those people?" She questioned, the grip on his wrist only tightening.   
  
"Angels."  
  
"Why are they after you?"   
  
His whole body froze. He knew she would probably run away screaming if he told her why, but maybe then she would finally let go of his hand and he could leave; secluding himself once again from a world that feared him.  
  
Ulquiorra head turned to some extent to face her and his eyes locked with hers once more.  
  
"Because I'm a demon." He answered, turning away.  
  
Yes, he felt her release his hand. Inwardly he sighed, but he expected it. Demons are a human's worst nightmare. They devour humans and being around them is like being engulfed with hundreds of years of pure despair compressed into the simple seconds that passed.  
  
Something pressed against his side, he flinched and turned suddenly only to find the girl pressing her hand against his abdomen.   
  
She was leaning over as she pulled her hand away, blood was dripping from it, and she inspected the cut on the demon's side.   
  
"You're hurt."  
  
Ulquiorra's lips were agape and his eyes tripled in size. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had just told her what he was, and she didn't seem bothered by it, she also seemed immune to that aura of despair that was obviously radiating from his being.  
  
The girl stood up straight quickly. "I'll get this fixed in a jiffy!" She exclaimed, a smile washing over her face. "Just stay right here and don't move. Better yet, go sit over there." She pointed to the bed in the center of her room.  
  
The demon's eyes followed her fingers and landed on the bed, they lingered there for a moment before going back to the girl, only to find her darting into another door. He cocked his head slightly to see a room that appeared to be the restroom, with the human rustling through the cabinets.  
  
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but he did not move from his spot by the window. Personally, he was shocked that the pain had not taken over, even up to now.  
  
The girl dashed out of the bathroom with a white box. She could see the demon had not sat on the bed as she instructed, so instead, she made her way towards him and took a hold of his hand, pulling him towards the bed.  
  
His eyes never left her while she did so. He really could not believe what he was seeing.  
  
She sat down on the edge and signaled for him to do so as well. He did, but cautiously.   
  
She opened up the white box and began rummaging through it, humming. "Here it is." She pulled out a brown bottle and some cotton balls.   
  
Ulquiorra was utterly puzzled.   
  
She poured some of the liquid from the bottle onto the cotton balls and turned to face him. "Just stay still." She urged before pressing the damp cotton to his side.  
  
Ulquiorra was still confused up to the point when she placed that thing onto his cut; he was about to question her motives only before a stinging pain began to form in said area. He hissed and began to draw away only before the girl quickly removed it and blew onto his skin.  
  
The pain wasn't the worst thing in the world, it was miniscule, but he did not want to experience it if he didn't have to. But then the pain went away, and the human placed a band-aid on his cut.   
  
"That orange thing that appeared….it healed you, didn't it?" Orihime asked, looking up to meet his eyes.  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Why couldn't you just do that again to fix that cut?" She tilted her head.  
  
Ulquiorra blinked…..she actually thought he caused that shield like formation? And what about those attacks that came from 'her'. She couldn't think he caused those as well.  
  
"I didn't do that."   
  
Orihime blinked in confusion.  
  
But the one who was more confused was Ulquiorra. He was bewildered by her reaction to him.   
  
"Are you not scared of me?"   
  
"Ehh?" Orihime jumped by the sound of his voice, "Oh…no, I'm not scared."  
  
The demon nodded, "I see…."  
  
"I mean…" she started, "You did save me. Twice as a matter of fact."  
  
Ulquiorra stood up. The girl was confused but continued talking, "About that by the way, I just wanted to say thank you!"  
  
But he just continued walking towards the window without a word. When he began climbing out, Orihime jumped to her feet.  
  
"W-wait! Where are you going?!" She called out to him. He paused, a moment of silence passed before he began speaking. "As I said before, who knows."   
  
"B-but…those things!" She contradicted, still dressed in her wet nightgown. "Won't they go after you again or something?"  
  
"That doesn't concern you." But Ulquiorra was far from wrong on that statement. For he knew himself that this girl was a pure soul. But those powers that she had….he didn't know any human could possess such a thing, and he was sure those angels would be after her as well.  
  
At that realization, Ulquiorra stepped back down from the windowsill. He turned to face her, his blank expression present.   
  
She held her hands close to her chest and had a tinge of sadness in her eyes, her damp hair stuck to her heart-shaped face.  
  
His eyes lidded, mesmerizing at this girl before him. But then the pain took over, and he collapsed onto the ground before him.  
  
The last thing he remembered was seeing the human's face near his. She appeared to be calling out to him, but then her voice faded and everything turned white.


	7. My Savior

Orihime peered down to the sight of an unconscious demon sprawled out over her floor. One minute he was looking at her and the next he collapsed. At first, she frantically tried to make him wake up. She tried poking him, grabbing a hold of his cheeks, and even pulling his tail. But still nothing.  
  
It was getting pretty late now and Orihime was tired. But there was still the matter of the demon. She pondered about this as she watched the creature's chest heave up and down with every breath he took. The angels were probably still after him, but she wanted to know what he could have down that would have angels after him.  
  
He didn't seem bad to her. He saved her twice. Orihime didn't care about what species he was, even if he was a demon, he had done nothing but good things to her. He saved her back in the alley, and just now when the angel attacked her.  
  
"I always thought angels were good." The auburn haired girl said aloud. She was now sitting on her knees next to the demon still in her wet nightgown. "And demons were bad," she continued to herself. Only she could find it humorous that she was attacked by something that was supposed to be good and saved by something that was considered bad.   
  
Orihime looked back at the demon's face. The pained expression he had when he first collapsed was gone and replaced with a peaceful one. His inky wet black hair stuck to his face and his lips were slightly parted.   
  
She couldn't help but reach her hand out to him. Her fingers slid into his hair. It was so soft. Slowly she petted him and thought about what to do.  
  
If the demon stayed with her, there couldn't be any way for the angels to find her or him. Yes, that made perfect sense. The demon could stay with her and she'll take care of him.   
  
Before Orihime knew it, she was already devising a plan as to how this would work, keeping a demon with her. Her eyes began to close heavily with every blink. She really needed to sleep.   
  
Dashing towards her bed, Orihime snatched up 2 pillows and her light pink blanket. She made her ways back towards the demon and dropped to her knees just by his head She held the back of his head up, slid a pillow underneath, and slowly laid his head upon it.  
  
The girl didn't even want to bother hauling him up to her bed and risk the chance of him waking up. She threw the blanket over him and laid beside him on her own pillow.  
  
She was so giddy.  
  
"I have a demon in my room." She told herself.  
  
"I have a demon in my room!" She said again. Orihime smiled to herself as she snuggled into her pillow and stared deeply at the face of this demon for who knows how long until the confines of sleep finally drew her in.  
  


* * *

  
  
"Ichigo Kurosaki," a deep voice began, "what is the meaning of this?"  
  
Bowed before the God of the heavens were Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuichiki.  
  
"I hear that you came in contact with a special specimen….and you let her get away?" He spoke with an uneasy yet falsely kind voice.   
  
"My Lord," Ichigo started, taking a breath, "the demon snatched her before we had the chance to claim her."  
  
"Does this human know about the situation between Heaven and Hell?" God asked.  
  
"I do not know sir." He answered truthfully; his orange hair falling over his face as he stared intently at the ground, awaiting some form of punishment.   
  
Ichigo knew he had something in store, and only now did he realize why Rukia was so worried about returning. They had been given this mission two years ago, and still they were unable to complete anything. Within these few seconds of silence that passed, he began to question just how important this mission really was, and how there were so many things he didn't know or understand.  
  
Like that girl…  
  
"Well then," God began, interrupting Ichigo's train of thought. "Your duties concerning this mission have been revoked, for both of you. I will be sending in someone else to replace you."  
  
This was it, Ichigo thought to himself. He could only imagine what Rukia was thinking or how she was feeling. They were going to be thrown into the other dimension for sure.  He shut his eyes tight awaiting, so tight it hurt.  
  
"That is all. You're dismissed, your new order of business will be given to you in a few days."  
  
At the same time, both the angel's heads shot up in surprise by these words. Without hesitation or question, they stood up and thanked their Lord, before speed walking out of Aizen's dwelling chambers.  
  
Once the door made entirely of cloud was shut, they both let out a breath.  
  
"I can't believe it…" Rukia whispered, "I was certain that was it for us."  
  
She turned to face Ichigo. He was staring off into the distance, his back resting against the door they just came from. He was so absorbed in his thoughts, he didn't realize his companion angel was trying to talk to him until her palm met his cheek it an echoing slap.  
  
"Ow!" He brought his hand to his face, "What was that for?!"  
  
"You're not listening to me." Rukia deadpanned flatly.  
  
Ichigo blinked, "Oh…what did you say again?"  
  
She sighed. "I was just asking what you were thinking about, you seemed pretty zoned out."  
  
The orange haired angel began to walk down the halls of Heaven, the ground made entirely of cloud, as well as the walls and ceiling.  
  
"I was just thinking about that human girl. Do you think she's still alive?" Ichigo asked as he continued walking. The raven-haired angel caught up to him and they began to walk in sync.  
  
"I honestly don't know…." Rukia replied. "The demon could have eaten her if he so wished to."  
  
Ichigo scratched the back of his neck, "You think so? She was able to injure both of us pretty badly." He pointed out to their already treated wounds. "That's just one demon she's up against."  
  
Rukia looked at him through her peripheral vision. "Ichigo….the only reason we almost had him was because he was distracted by something. He's more powerful then you think, more powerful then our powers combined. In that moment we merely got lucky, but then that girl showed up."  
  
"If he's so strong why would Aizen assign us this mission in the first place?" Ichigo asked, slightly frustrated.  
  
They made a turn into another corridor, where other angels dressed in white cloaks were roaming the halls.  
  
"I don't know, not our problem anymore now is it."  
  
They waved to some of their fellow friends as they passed. It was a while since both of them had been back home.  
  
"One more question Rukia."  
  
"Shoot."  
  
Ichigo took a breath, "What's so special about this demon? I know he was sent from the devil to go after a pure soul, but any demon could be after her as well. Why were we targeting him?"  
  
Rukia chuckled, "And so two years later and you finally have questions. Well, first of all, that demon we were after is actually the devil's son."  
  
Ichigo blinked, but before he could question any further, Rukia continued to explain.  
  
"Apparently it's a given. Whoever claims that pure soul first and is able to gain her trust and take hold of her power will become the ruler of Heaven. That's why it was so important to Aizen if he wishes to continue being God, which doesn't make sense to me because he assigned angels on only our level for this mission."  
  
The orange haired angel shook his head. "Doesn't make much sense to me."  
  
Rukia stopped in front of a door, her room, and pulled it open. "I know," she replied, "but as I said, it's not our problem anymore. At least I hope it isn't."  
  
She slipped inside and turned around, locking eyes with her long-term friend. "Night Ichigo."  
  
"Night."

* * *

  
  
Evening in Heaven was turning tonight and most of the angels were getting ready for bed.  
  
After Ichigo and Rukia were dismissed, Aizen had to get started on his next order of business. He decided to visit the next angel that would take part in it personally.  
  
As he walked down the halls of his magnificent kingdom, the angels paid their respects and lowered their heads as he passed.  
  
One might think he was worried about his current situation. It was indeed true; if the devil got a hold of the girl's powers then Aizen would lose his place as God and be converted back to the devil.  
  
He remembered once being held with that name. Devil. But that was oh so long ago.  
It fit him well actually.  
  
But God, had oh so much more power. Despite that, he couldn't let this get in the way of his plans….he needed that girl's powers to continue with them and once and for all make sure that the original God (currently the Devil) wouldn't get in the way anymore.  
  
He was so lucky when he got a hold of that first pure soul many centuries ago.   
  
With that pure soul's power, he was able to overthrow Heaven; banishing God to the depths of Hell, along with all his angels that were converted to demons, as he was lifted to the seat of the high and mighty Lord.  
  
He recalled God's original son. How he watched him suffer that day it all happened. His memories wiped and centuries of pure despair were poured into him, changing his entire form into a beastly creature.  
  
Aizen chuckled while remembering this. It was simply revenge aimed towards God after banishing his once most loyal angel to hell after he tried to overpower him. Now look what has happened, Aizen in the end managed in doing so and he was able to hurt him most by hurting the closest thing to him, his son. Where in the end he forgot who his own father was.  
  
He could only imagine how God had felt when he realized the most precious thing he had didn't even whom he was, and was now transformed into a monster. Aizen found it all so amusing.   
  
But if he wished to keep his seat as the current God, he needed that girl and her trust.  
  
He stopped once he reached his destination. Knocking twice on the door made of eccentric cloud, he waited.  
  
Aizen heard some noises within the room, and then finally the person inside opened the door.  
  
"Ahh…Grimmjow." Aizen greeted.  
  
Said angel's blue eyes widened by the sight of God standing in his doorway. He bowed his head. His blue locks of hair falling over his face.  
  
"My Lord, it's…. unexpected to see you here."  
  
"Indeed," God replied, "but I have a mission for you, so there's some things I wish to discuss with you.  
  
Grimmjow nodded, "Of course."

* * *

  
  
The sun began to dawn the horizon. It's magnificent rays pouring themselves through the window of Orihime Inoue's home and onto the demon sprawled out on her floor.  
  
The skin began to singe and almost immediately Ulquiorra awoke in terrible pain. Before he was even able to take in his surroundings, he was faced with the light of the sun. It burned…oh so badly.  
  
He got up and tripped over himself to the small dark corner of the human's room.  
  
Wait….  
  
….human's room?   
  
Getting over the burns he recalled last night's events, and his eyes were immediately in search of the girl.  
  
She lay on the floor next to where he was just sleeping a moment ago. Her auburn hair was sprawled around her and she was cuddling into her pillow. From where he was he could only see her back.   
  
The pain died down.  
  
Ulquiorra just couldn't fathom it. The human girl went to lay next to him during the night, with no fear whatsoever. From where he was though, the shape of her curved hips could easily be seen. It caused something inside him to burn with heat.  
  
He couldn't just sit there the whole time…what was he going to do after that? Keep on running in search of what the devil required of him in the first place? A human girl. Well she was right here wasn't she?  
  
Ulquiorra was sure of it. The only thing though, was that he didn't know what he was supposed to do next.  
  
"a girl…she will reject it---"  
  
That was the only piece of information he was given about what to do next with this girl. What must she reject? Why was it so important that the devil himself would have chosen Ulquiorra to go find her?  
  
Ulquiorra recalled it all. In fact, he couldn't remember most of his life. It was as if half his lifetime was deleted from memory. All he could remember was waking up in Hell with the devil towering over him, and nothing before that.  
  
He turned to look back at the girl, still asleep on the floor. He mused over the fact that he still didn't even know her name.  
  
He pulled his knees up to his chest and held them close, his eyes peering at her.  
  
At the moment he had to figure out his next order of business. Deep down it was more than the fact that the devil required this of him, but more so of him being so deeply interested in this human. How much he craved her.   
  
But the thought that still irked him was the angels. They would be after him more so than ever now that this human was involved. He dragged her into this and now her whole life will be affected. He felt as if it was his responsibility to protect her. How difficult that would be though, for he couldn't even be out in sunlight.  
  
Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the girl stirring in her sleep.  
  
Ulquiorra watched intensely as she yawned and stretched.  
  
Orihime sat up and stared off into space until the realization struck that she was sitting on the floor. She quickly remembered the events of last night. She looked to her side in search of the demon, only to find he wasn't there. She blinked when she felt a dark presence behind her, and frantically turned around.  
  
And there the demon was, sitting in the dark corner of her room.  
  
Their eyes locked and Ulquiorra immediately expected a face full of horror despite how so far the girl had proven herself unfazed by his hideous appearance. She proved to him yet again when her face lighted up and a smile plastered itself across it.   
  
Orihime jumped to her feet. "Good morning!" She exclaimed.  
  
Ulquiorra watched her as she curiously began to walk towards him. He could feel her presence begin smothering him, but couldn't say he disliked it.  
  
Her white nightgown swooshed around her legs with each step she took. Once the girl reached him, she bent down and brought her knees up to her chest, all the while looking at him peculiarly.  
  
"Why are you all the way over here in the corner?" She questioned, furrowing her eyebrows.  
  
Ulquiorra's eyes were still connected with hers. She had such an innocent look on her face. He couldn't recall ever coming in contact with anyone who could contain such an expression. It was so pure and innocent.  
  
"I can not be in the sunlight." He answered honestly.  
  
"Why not?" She asked. Orihime sat on her bottom and crossed her legs, looking up at the demon while waiting for a reply.  
  
"I just can't. It burns my skin."   
  
He could still feel the burns. It hurt, but not as much as before. This is why he is meant to dwell at night. But ever since he came in contact with this girl his whole sleeping schedule became a wreck.  
  
After hearing this Orihime caught sight of the demon's arm. She could see a burnt mark. She reached out to it and hovered her hand over it. The young girl didn't exactly know what she was doing, but it was as if her hand was drawn towards this demon's pain.  
  
Ulquiorra watched this girl close her eyes as her hand hovered over his burn. The aura radiating from her reached his injury and it immediately brought some relief, despite the fact that they weren't even touching.  
  
"Hmm…" She retracted her hand. "Is that why you visited me at night? Because you can't be in the sun?"  
  
Ulquiorra blinked in surprise. So she knew that he visited her that night.   
  
"That's correct."  
  
At that, the human girl stood up and walked towards her window. She closed it and folded the blinding, ceasing any further light into her room. Almost instantly a wave of approval swept through Ulquiorra.  
  
It wasn't pitch dark but he felt so much better than before.   
  
"There!" The human exclaimed. But then her eyes caught sight of her alarm clock. They tripled in size. Ulquiorra blinked in confusion by this.  
  
"Oh no…I'm going to be late!"   
  
"Late?"  
  
She turned back to the demon still sitting in the corner of her room. The sight to any other normal person would be terrifying. For in the somewhat dark room, the yellow eyes of this creature glowed and followed her every move.  
  
But…. that was any normal person.  
  
"Yeah, I need to go to school. If I don't hurry I'll be late again!" Orihime explained.  
  
Orihime dashed into her closet and salvaged her school uniform only before rushing into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.  
  
Ulquiorra cocked his head to the side. Even just after a few minutes of observing her behavior, he didn't even know what he was able to conclude other than the fact that everything she did seemed peculiar to him.  
  
In spite of them being in a dark room, it seemed as though her entire being kept the room lit. Be it her aura or personality.   
  
Ulquiorra finally stood up and stretched. He had an urge to spread his wings out to their great lengths but the confines of the room were too small.   
  
It was still so hard to compute. He was actually in this human's room. It smelled so much like her too. Ulquiorra took a breath and allowed her scent to fill his entire being, causing that pleasure to begin radiating from within his core.   
  
\----  
  
From within the bathroom, Orihime was nearly ready. She was dressed in her uniform and her hair was brushed. All that was left to do was brush her teeth. Unfortunately though because she woke up late there was no time for breakfast.  
  
She watched herself in the mirror as she began brushing.   
  
Orihime remembered the plan she thought of the night before. She would ask the demon if he would stay with her. It might not make much sense, but she was worried for him. He saved her and those angels were still after him, it was the least she could do for him.  
  
"Him…?"  
  
Realization struck her when she became conscious of the fact that she didn't know his name.  
  
Once she was done, she opened the door and to her surprise she found the demon looking at the multiple photos of herself and her friends on her dresser.   
  
He turned to face her.  
  
"I have a proposition to make." She announced.   
  
Orihime waited for a reply from the demon but there was none, so she continued. "I want to thank you for saving me. So as a thank you, I want you to stay here….um I mean, that is, I'm going to let you stay."  
  
Ulquiorra's eyes widened upon hearing this.  
  
"That is if you want to!" The human girl quickly blurted out. "I mean, after all those angels would probably be after you again so……"  
  
The demon looked at her with a curious look. "I accept."  
  
Her eyes brightened, "Eh really?! That's great!"  
  
On his part, Ulquiorra was surprised to find himself replying so quickly. It's not that he didn't want to stay, because he did. There was something about her that drew him to her. But he knew there was more to it; he would have to protect her from those angels.   
  
"By the way," he heard her begin speaking, "What's your name?"  
  
"Ulquiorra."  
  
The girl walked up to him and held her hand out. "I'm Orihime Inoue." She smiled at him.  
  
Ulquiorra looked at her hand quizzically, not exactly sure what to do. Orihime quickly realized his confusion and explained.  
  
"You have to take a hold of my hand. It's a greeting." She laughed awkwardly.  
  
The demon did as she explained.  
  
The moment their hands were grasped within each other's Ulquiorra felt this overwhelming feeling rush through his entire being. Touching her…it was so….he couldn't even describe it. He had the sudden urge to touch more of her.  
  
Orihime shook lightly before pulling away. The fur on his hands caused such odd sensations. But before she could say anything she saw the time on the clock.  
  
"Oh! I got to go now but I'll be back later during the day." She waved to him and quickly made her way to her front door. "There's some food in the fridge if you're hungry." The door closed behind her.  
  
At that Ulquiorra marveled at this entire scene. He finally knew her name too.  
  
"Orihime…."  
  
All he knew now was that he not only needed to but also wanted to protect her. He wasn't sure if the angels would be after her again but he didn't want to take any chances. She attacked not just one but two angels, and the fact that she aided an enemy of Heaven could very well mean she was going to be targeted. And those powers…..he just couldn't get over them.  
  
Now Ulquiorra felt uneasy in the fact that she was out there. He couldn't stop anything even if he wanted to. That blasted sun.

* * *

  
  
Orihime just barely made it in time to school. She sat in her seat waiting for class to begin.  
  
"Class I have an announcement." She heard sensei say. "We have a new student." Sensei gestured for someone to come in.   
  
The student walked in. The first thing that sparked her attention about him was his blazing blue hair and penetrating eyes as they locked with hers. She felt her face heat up.  
  
"Everyone this is Grimmjow."


	8. More Similar Than it Sees

Sensei told the new blue haired student where to sit. This place just happened to be two seats behind Orihime. But the young girl didn't take much note of it; it was just another new student.   
  
The class continued and Orihime busily copied down all the notes the teacher had on the board. Although while doing this, her mind wasn't present. Every swift move of her hand was mechanical as her mind was racing with thoughts of what she would come home to today. She was thinking about how her daily life would be now that Ulquiorra was there.   
  
Where he would sleep, what he would do during the day, and what her friends would think if they ever caught sight of Ulquiorra. Orihime was a bit worried over the fact that he couldn't exactly go out in public; the sun and people's reactions would both be a problem. But then it came to her that there wasn't anything really wrong with his appearance. She was certain though most people would find a problem with it….but to Orihime none of that mattered. Who cares if he's a demon?   
  
It came to a point where her hands stopped writing, and she rested her cheek in her palm, thinking about Ulquiorra. From any other person's point of view, they could easily tell that she was daydreaming, and that included the teacher.  
  
"Orihime!"  
  
Spazzing out upon hearing her name being called, Orihime quickly recollected herself.   
  
"Y-yes?!" Her entire face turned red from embarrassment. Things like this happened often to her. She could hear some of the other student's sigh in annoyance.  
  
"Honestly Orihime," Sensei started, "it's as if you're trying to make this a daily occurrence."  
  
"Sorry…" She muttered under her breath. Her eyes were glued to her desk in embarrassment. Her eyes ran over her notebook and she was surprised to see not notes from the lesson but instead doodles of a bat-human looking creature that mirrored Ulquiorra's appearance.   
  
'I must have done this without even knowing.' She said to herself, still slightly shocked.   
  
"Alright Orihime…" the teacher massaged her forehead in exasperation. "Just please see me after class."  
  
Once class was over, there was Orihime receiving a lecture from the sensei. She even took her notebook to check if she was even doing anything productive in class. Her anger though only rose upon seeing the doodles.  
  
"Orihime seriously, I know you're a bright kid but you're always daydreaming in class." 

* * *

  
  
From outside the classroom, a certain someone was eavesdropping on the conversation. He was leaning against the wall next to the door; his blue locks of hair fell over his face as he listened. Any sort of information on this girl would be helpful for this type of mission.  
  
Grimmjow had to earn Orihime's trust, and fast. He thought about what he would say to her when she walked out. To be honest, he wasn't the kindest and sweetest man you could cross, but he was good at acting I could tell you that.  
  
One might even ask why someone with the likes of Grimmjow would agree so easily on this mission. He was a rebellious, rude, and a reckless individual. Well for that…there were many things Aizen could easily do to have anyone obey him. All he needed was that person's weakness and considering he was God, he had the ability to learn it just with a simple glance.  
  
Grimmjow, and all the other angels were trapped with no way out, and no one ever speaks about or against it. They just do what they are told, and that is exactly what Grimmjow was doing.  
  
The sound of feet pattering against the ground began to echo and before the blue haired angel knew it, the human girl was walking out of the classroom.   
  
Orihime stopped abruptly upon nearly bumping into him. "Ehh! Sorry!" She called out once regaining her balance. She heard a grunt in response and looked up to realize it was the new student.   
  
Without saying anything else she quickly stepped aside and continued walking down the hall.  
  
It all had happened so quickly that Grimmjow was unable to think of what to say in that moment, and he had lost his chance. Well first of many chances he would try anyways. He turned around and watched her continue walking down the hall.  
  
The idea of following her came up, but Grimmjow immediately shunned it knowing it wouldn't be the best way to gain someone's trust. It would freak her out if anything. But then it hit him…..  
  
"Uh….OI!" He called out, loudly.  
  
Orihime jumped slightly and curiously turned around. She could see the new student from over her shoulder.   
  
"Yes?" She asked. She didn't need to speak so loud though, for the hallway was empty and she hadn't gone that far in those short few seconds.  
  
Grimmjow leisurely made his way towards her, trying to pull off the most believable confused face he possibly could while pulling something out of his back pocket.  
  
"I'm a bit lost here….I don't know where the rest of my classes are." He pulled out his class schedule and held it out once he reached her. By then Orihime had turned fully to face him.  
  
Judging from the information he received from Ichigo and Rukia about this girl, she seemed like someone that was pure and utterly violent. So it surprised him dearly to see a heartwarming smile plaster itself across her face. It actually made him take a step back.  
  
"Oh I can help you." Orihime said as she eagerly took a hold of the new student's schedule. Her eyes ran over it and she was surprised to see that they had quite a few classes together.  
  
Grimmjow watched the girl's face and waited for her to say something. Finally, she lifted her head up, her auburn hair falling over her shoulders as she handed the slip of paper back to him.  
  
"Your next class is actually the same as mine, I'll be glad to walk you there." She tilted her head to the side in a friendly gesture.  
  
Grimmjow was taken back. He didn't expect her to be one of those happy go-lucky girls, but he'll go through with it. This was going to get him somewhere. He rubbed the back of his neck and nodded.  
  
The walk to their next class was pretty silent. The blue haired angel followed the human down the halls, passing by some students here and there. All of which stared at him for his absurd hair color. He grinded his teeth in anger and clenched his fists. He had to keep calm if he wanted to complete the mission.  
  
If he didn't…then…..  
  
"And this is it."   
  
The sound of Orihime's voice freed Grimmjow from his thoughts.  
  
"Thanks." He grunted. He wasn't really good at things like this. Sure he could easily pull of a face of lies and get away with anything, or battle some of the fiercest demons out there, but this type of job just seemed different. It seemed so much more fragile.  
  
"I'm Orihime Inoue, by the way….oh ha, that rhymed." She stuck her hand out with that smile still on her face.  
  
Grimmjow took her hand and shook.   
  
"Grimmjow Jagerjaques."  
  
"Nice to meet you." Orihime said, only before walking into the classroom to her usual seat.  
  
Grimmjow watched her from the doorway. So far he managed into coming in contact with his mission, for the rest he must find a way to befriend her.  And at that he chose a seat that wasn't to far or to close to the human.  
  


* * *

  
  
Upon pulling open the door a gush of cold air swarmed around Ulquiorra's face and the light from inside caused him to flinch. Realizing it wasn't sunlight and had no effect on his skin, the demon peered inside the refrigerator.  
  
Orihime had told him if he was hungry to look in the fridge. But everything he saw seemed…inedible. Not only because it was natural for him to eat souls and only souls, but just even with his little knowledge on the types of things humans ate, this seemed nothing like it.  
  
He grunted only before closing the door and then he was left there in the dark room. Taking a deep breath, Ulquiorra took in the scent of the human's soul. He could feel his skin tingle as the amazing feeling coursed throughout his body.  
  
Her home smelled like her and what a sweet scent it was. Ulquiorra turned around, careful to keep his wings close to himself as to not knock over anything, and made his way to the dining table where lay a partially open box.  
  
Curiously he opened it and examined the containments. It was full of old looking photos. Ulquiorra picked a few out, his black fur on his hand smoothing away the dust. The first picture in his hand contained a small human girl with beautiful auburn hair playing in the snow. He thought it to be the human girl.   
  
In the next photo he found a young man with brown hair hugging the little girl. She was wearing a cone-shaped hat and there were balloons in the background. She was smiling and Ulquiorra brought it closer to examine it. His fingers brushed against the paper and over the little girl's face.  
  
He would never forget that smile, the one he saw the day he first came in contact with that human.   
  
For the next few photos it was mostly the younger Orihime with the young man. Ulquiorra wondered as to whom that exactly was. Then after several pictures, he found one with the back facing up, and writing printed on it.  
  
"From here on I promise to be a big girl."  
  
Turning the sheet over to see the picture, Ulquiorra saw a somewhat older Orihime. She was still a child, but her hair was shorter and she was wearing similar blue hairpins to the ones she already wore.  
  
He reread those words and questioned as to what they could mean.  
  
After a while of rummaging through the box, Ulquiorra reentered the girl's room. He could feel the heat of the sun beating against the window and began to tremble slightly. This type of routine you could call it was very different from what he was living the past two years. Usually, at the moment he would be asleep in some type of abandoned house or in the forest. After sleeping all last night he knew it would be impossible to try and sleep now.  
  
His entire life consisted of sleeping, eating, and traveling. Now though. He wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do. In frustration, Ulquiorra laid on Orihime's bed face down.  
  
He was hungry. Sure the scent of the girl's soul was enough to sustain his energy (just barely though), but he was having that craving into physically being able to put a soul in his mouth and feel it run down his throat. He turned his face to the side and blinked heavily.   
  
The hole in his chest, he could feel the pain singe around the sides as the pleasure from the girl's scent was slowly fading away. Ulquiorra wasn't sure how much more of this he could handle. He cringed in pain and restlessly snatched one of the pillows on the bed and brought it close to his chest.  
  
Despite the fact that it was the very scent causing the pain, he couldn't help but smother his face in the pillow and breath as he pulled his legs up closer to his abdomen. He tried to focus on the smell instead of the pain. His entire body began to quiver as he held onto the pillow dearly.  
  
Ulquiorra lay like that for some time. After a while, the pain was almost gone. He began to think how living with Orihime would be like and how he would respond to her. They had so little interaction together that he wasn't sure how he should behave. In Hell, he didn't have to worry about these sorts of things, and quite frankly he didn't care either. Back then he would just steer clear of everyone and keep to himself.   
  
This situation made him question what he was used to. He knew nothing of human manners or behavior. The only thing he was sure of was that everyone was petrified of him. Whenever someone laid their eyes on him they would scream and runaway in terror. Maybe this was why it was hard for him to believe that this human girl could be so care free around him.  
  
The sound of the front door opening awakened him from his thoughts. He heard the sound of the girl humming and knew it was Orihime.   
  
Ulquiorra stayed in his same position even when Orihime entered her room to find him laying on her bed in a fetal position. It took her back…..and despite that she walked closer to him. Their eyes met.  
  
Orihime took this in.  
  
His inky black hair fell over his cheeks and he had his knees raised up to his stomach, holding a pillow close to him. She couldn't believe how….adorable it was. She really couldn't imagine any reason why those angels would try and hurt someone as innocent looking as him, at least that's what she thought anyways.  
  
She dropped her bag to the floor. "How was your day?"  
  
In response, he merely blinked.  
  
"Did you eat anything today?"   
  
"No."  
  
She sat beside him. Ulquiorra turned his head slightly to get a better look at her, but then she suddenly turned and their eyes met again.  
  
"Do demons even eat?" She asked confused, scrunching up her nose.  
  
Ulquiorra thought about answering…and where this conversation would lead to.  
  
"Yes, we do." He replied calmly   
  
"Like what?"  
  
Ah there it was. A side of Ulquiorra wanted to get this over with. He wasn't sure how she would react if she found out about something like this or many of the other things he's done. But still, deep down he wanted to know….he wanted to have hope at least one creature in this world would take him for who he was.  
  
He slowly sat up and sat beside her, careful to keep his wings once again close to himself. She was still looking up at him curiously waiting for an answer and he stared ahead.  
  
"Demons eat human souls."  
  
There was a moment of silence as Ulquiorra concentrated his vision on the wall. At the same time, he could feel the mood sink, hitting rock bottom. Still, no reply from her and he finally turned to see her reaction.  
  
Orihime had a shocked expression. Her eyebrows raised and her eyes stunned. When Ulquiorra's eyes met hers, her mouth formed an 'o' and she shyly turned away. She tried to think about what to say next….this heavy silence was killing her.  
  
"Have 'you' ever eaten a human soul?" She couldn't resist, she had to know.  
  
Ulquiorra nodded, still looking at her. "Yes, I have. Specifically those three men that cornered you that night, they were the last I had since then."  
  
Orihime's eyes tripled in size upon hearing this. "So they're dead?"  
  
What kind of question is that? Obviously, if he ate them then they're dead. Ulquiorra closed his eyes slightly annoyed. He didn't really want to repeat what he had just said, because so far he wasn't exactly enjoying her reaction. The burning sensation around the hole in his chest returned. He didn't like this at all.  
  
He nodded and grunted in response. "Regretting letting me stay here?"   
  
Suddenly, Orihime got up. Ulquiorra could only see her back, and she seemed to be shaking. His brows furrowed questioningly as he waited for her response. Finally, she turned around.  
  
Orihime held one of her arms close to her side and looked at Ulquiorra in wonder.  
  
"No. I don't regret letting you stay here. You saved me and it's the least I could do." By the end of her answer, her eyes had shifted from the ground, wary of the demon's unyielding eyes.  
  
"What if I hadn't saved you? Would you still let me stay here?" Ulquiorra asked.  
  
Orihime's eyes returned to his. His question had caught her off guard.  
  
"I um…" She started.  
  
"You don't need to put yourself in an uncomfortable situation…." Ulquiorra stood up, "because you feel the need to pay someone back."   
  
His wings began to spread to their great lengths despite the confines of the girl's bedroom. Ulquiorra's eyes were still glued to hers as he towered over the small human. His wings were blocking the room's lighting so Orihime was left to stand in the demon's shadow.  
  
Her expression changed to that of determination. "I'm not uncomfortable with you here and I don't want to think about the 'what ifs' when I know it wasn't that way. All I ask from you now is …answers."  
  
Ulquiorra cocked an eyebrow, "Answers?"  
  
"Yes." Orihime continued, "To some questions I have….if you don't mind that is."  
  
Ulquiorra crossed his arms. "Go ahead."  
  
She nodded, but then peered around the demon's body to her bed, and met his eyes once more. Ulquiorra got the message and went once again to take a seat, Orihime followed suit.  
  
There they were once again. The demon sat at the end of the bed, his legs over the sides and he was leaning his weight against one of his arms. His tail fell over the other length of the bed. The human sat on her knees on the opposite side with her fists curled into her school skirt.  
  
"I know you told me before," She started, "But why exactly are those angels after you, other then the fact that you're a demon…you haven't done anything wrong….."  
  
"Well if you assume eating countless of human souls as being accepted in your world, then I honestly don't have any other reason."  
  
"Oh yeah…." She said awkwardly, "Well what about this, where did you come from?"  
  
Ulquiorra shifted his weight.   
  
"Hell." He answered simply. "I was sent to the human realm by the devil."  
  
Orihime was once again taken back by these words. The small little world of Karukura Town she knew seemed to be shrinking in her mind upon hearing that Hell actually does exist.  
  
"What for?" She pursued.   
  
"He told me I had to…" He hesitated upon answering, "He told me I had to find something."  
  
Orihime pressed her lips together, "Find what?"  
  
The demon took an annoyed breath and turned his attention to the wall ahead of him once again, steering the human's curious gaze.   
  
"The details given were a bit vague to a point that even I am confused. I don't even know what to do once I find whatever it is that I'm looking for."  
  
"Hmm….."   
  
Ulquiorra was expecting something else from her, but after a few moments of silence, he decided to turn his attention back to Orihime to see her reaction. But he nearly choked on his own breath once he saw that she was a whole lot closer to him, and was examining the fur on his arm.  
  
How had she gotten so close without him noticing?!  
  
His eyes widened upon seeing her begin rubbing that fur. Ulquiorra honesty had no idea how to react. Before he knew it though, Orihime had grabbed his arm, in order to be able to feel the odd sensation of his fur against her skin.  
  
"Were you always a demon?" The human asked, still holding his arm.  
  
Again with the questions.  
  
Ulquiorra eased slightly away from the girl, wary of the pleasure he once again felt from her simple touch. It really was an endless cycle, for he knew what would come shortly afterward.  
  
"From as far as I know, which isn't very much."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Every demon is born as a child demon, the same with humans. For me though, I just woke up in this matured body of a demon with no memory of my past or where I came from or even my own family…." He paused, "If I had one that is."  
  
Orihime's face softened with sympathy, he sort of knew what the demon was going through.  
  
"So you're all alone?"  
  
Ulquiorra lifted his gaze to her. "In a way….but the Devil took me in as if I were his own son, and even yet he banished me from Hell on a whim with barely any information."   
  
The girl nodded, "I sort of know the feeling…of being alone that is." She realized how odd it was that in such a way she was able to relate to this beast from Hell.  
  
"My brother died when I was young." She continued, "He was the only family I had….and ever since he was gone I had to take care of myself." It was somewhat sad to bring up these old things.  
  
Ulquiorra listened to this, and something sparked in his memory. Her brother. He remembered seeing pictures of her and the young man…that must have been her brother……and how happy she seemed with him.   
  
Ulquiorra didn't know much about humans or emotions since he barely harbored these things, but by the look on her face he could tell how deeply Orihime missed this man.  
  
"I am sorry to intrude on your aching memories."  
  
Orihime began to wave her hands dismissing the subject. "Oh don't worry about it! It was years ago, I'm all right, haha! Besides I was the one just pushing my memories into the conversation without you even asking about them."  
  
By now she was rubbing the back of her head with an awkward smile plastered across her face. Ulquiorra just looked at her quizzically by her sudden change of moods so quickly, it was hard for him to keep up.  
  
"Anyways…" She tried to restart the conversation. "Have you ever tried human food?"  
  
Ulquiorra didn't like where this was going….  
  
"Because I'm sure you're hungry since um…the last time you've eaten anything was days ago."  
  
He did feel hungry but it wasn't for any human food…..  
  
Orihime swiftly kicked herself off the bed and grabbed a hold of his furry hand.   
  
"You can't say no until you've tried it!" She then proceeded to yank Ulquiorra off the bed and drag him out of her room and to the kitchen.  
  
Despite her efforts, Ulquiorra refused to eat anything. It was like trying to feed metal to a human. It was becoming more difficult for him though. It was as if he was surrounded by a tempting feast with this smell in the air and throughout the day all he had was that. But he was finding it increasingly difficult to keep down these urges and he was becoming weaker by the second.   
  
Just the scent of this pure soul wasn't enough….Ulquiorra knew that tonight he would go out and finally eat something despite the angels that were after him.


	9. What the HELL!

Orihime leaned against the wall holding herself. She wasn't in nearly in as much pain as he was but the guilt was creeping up on her. She could hear the noises he made coming from the restroom and they sounded painful….But not only guilt for being the cause of it, but also because of no way around it.  
  
"I'm sorry….I didn't know it would make you sick." She whispered to herself as a tear rolled down her cheek. God, she felt pathetic crying, but the pain of the guilt was killing her. Hurting someone, causing another person pain...Orihime couldn't bear it. Especially when all she was trying to do was help!  
  
Ulquiorra took a couple of deep breaths as he leaned over the toilet. God, what the hell was that? He wiped some sweat from his forehead and sat down on his butt and leaned against the wall.  
  
He had never tried human food before, it has piqued his curiosity before, but now all answers are clear. His body just isn't meant for anything other than souls.  
  
He sighed and looked up.  
  
Ulquiorra was always hungry. No matter how many souls he ate, he always felt hungry. Sure, the hunger wouldn't be as severe if he ate a blackened soul or two, but it would be the same as if a human ate garbage. It would cause the hunger to subside momentarily because you have something physically in you, but the taste and what it does to your body is excruciating, and sooner or later your hunger pains return.  
  
Ulquiorra always felt like that, which is strange because a soul, no matter how dirty or clean, is supposed to give a demon nutrition.  
  
Maybe he was just a picky eater...he smirked. The only thing that satisfied his hunger was her, and the smell was enough to somewhat do the trick. But even so, he knows it's not enough, not for his needs, but for his wants. He wants all of her.  
  
Ulquiorra blinked as these thoughts crossed his mind. The pain began to subside and his breathing calmed down after that vomiting session, but he remained sitting on the floor of Orihime's bathroom.  
  
What does he mean when he says he wants her? Does he want to physically eat her flesh and bone? No….It's not that. The nutrition in her body wasn't what he wanted, but it was a factor of her body that does engage certain feelings in his. It's very strange and something he can't put his finger on. The hunger he feels towards her is more intense than that of regular hunger all living creatures experience….but he didn't know to describe it.  
  
The thoughts he has of her, and the feeling of constant need to be around her, and to feel against him so he can sink in her warmth and touch her skin, alongside with the desire to be enveloped in her purity and her soul…  
  
"God, this is annoying."  
  
Ulquiorra was getting ahead of himself and thinking too much. Nothing in his life makes sense and he's already accepted this, so he should really just stop trying to hard to delve into things.  
  
He sat up and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked awful. He put the sink on and washed his face and hands. The water felt wonderful on his face but the fur on his arms and hands got all damp.  
  
Ulquiorra took a hold of the toothbrush she gave him and some toothpaste to get that disgusting taste out of his mouth.  
  
Once he finished and cleaned up, he wondered what it felt like to have water in his hand without the fur in the way….he wondered what it felt like to touch her without the fur in the wa-  
  
There was a knocking sound, followed by her voice. He turned the faucet off and took a step back as the door opened, but what he saw caused his mouth to fall open.  
  
"Ulquiorra….I'm sorry." Orihime was all red and sobbing, she couldn't seem to control herself, and he could barely understand her words through her tears.  
  
"I-I didn't mean to make you sick." She sounded like a toddler throwing a tantrum. "I just wanted to make sure you eat." She sobbed.  
  
Ulquiorra stared at her wide eyes as she approached him with her arms open.  
  
She wrapped her arms around him and he shivered as her skin glided against his. He was frozen and just stared off like THIS O_O  
  
 _(pff_ im _so stupid_ im _sorry_ i couldnt _resist using that face….are we back in 2009 yet?_  )  
  
He could feel her tears against his chest as she cried against him. "Please tell me you're okay…" she whimpered.  
  
Ulquiorra didn't know how to respond. This girl…...really is different. Still having trouble processing how she isn't afraid of him, it took even more effort to understand how she can behave this way around him….so comfortable?  
  
Her warmth though, was mesmerizing. Before he even realized it he wrapped his arms around her and on instinct his wings enveloped them, though none of them seemed to notice. His forehead slowly laid against her shoulder and he sighed.  
  
Orihime felt startled when she felt him embrace her. Her crying slowly subsided even though the guilt was still there.  
  
He hadn't answered her though…..  
  
She felt him squeeze tighter and she almost peeped. She couldn't see anything, only feel against her...and that was when he laid head against her. She could feel his breath and his chest go up and down as he breathed, and everything felt really calm.  
  
Who knows how much time passed? They seemed to have been standing there embracing each other for hours, it was just so serene.  
  
But then something broke that serenity when Orihime felt something. Ulquiorra began to dig into her neck with his lips and nose.  
  
She froze….she didn't know how to react, but the feeling felt….good? She felt relaxed despite her surprise but didn't push him away. The feeling felt like something she was familiar with even though nobody ever tried doing that to her? She didn't know what to say…..  
  
"Um….Ulquiorra…."  
  
He didn't listen. Instead, he hugged her even tighter and pressed herself against him, he felt her breasts push up against his chest and for some he felt something deep and warm inside him begin to tremble.  
  
He pulled away though when he felt her fidget. His eyes were glazed over as her looked at her tenderly.  
  
Orihime gasped quietly when their eyes locked. She's never seen that look on his face before.  
  
"Um….Ulquiorra….." She tried again.  
  
He blinked slowly in response.  
  
"You didn't um...a-answer me before." She paused. "Are you okay now?"  
  
For some odd reason, the words didn't register in Ulquiorra's head. He felt off…..he saw her lips move and he heard her speak but for some reason, he couldn't pay attention...because right now all he was focused on were her lips.  
  
Orihime tried asking again but realized what was happening…..He was leaning in…..and he had a predatory look…..and he was pulling her towards him.  
  
"U-Ulquiorra!" She cried out.  
  
Those words did register this time, and he saw the confused and scared look on her face….and he was...confused by his own actions? What was he doing?  
  
The descent towards her lips took a turn and as her heard her call his name, he froze but pressed his cheek against hers.  
  
He didn't want to look at her right now…..  
  
Oh god...what was I doing….what WAS that?  
  
But that was besides the point. Ulquiorra knew what he was doing. He knew what he wanted, but what he couldn't comprehend, was that HE OF ALL PEOPLE was experiencing this need. He had never experienced that before or wanted to.  
  
But why for the love of god did he want to press his lips against hers? He's a demon, he doesn't have humanly instinct. He couldn't understand, and this girl made him think far too much than what he's comfortable with.  
  
He felt heat rush over his face, a bizarre experience, and one he didn't like. Now, what is this?  
  
"Um…" she tried again."  
  
"I'm fine." He interrupted.  
  
Another moment of silence passed. The serenity of being in each others arms quickly turned into that of just flat our awkwardness.  
  
Ulquiorra pulled away finally and for the life of Orihime she couldn't understand why she was extremely disappointed by it.  
  
"I guess I'm just not meant for human food." He spoke as he stood in front of her, avoiding eye contact and letting his hair fall over his features.  
  
Orihime looked at him curiously and replied, "I guess you're right….." as her arms fell to her sides, and as she wondered what the hell just happened.


	10. The Lust

It was evening and the last of the sun's ray cast it's remaining light over the town of Karakura. Things were quiet as everyone made their way to their homes from another busy day of work and school. Though, not everyone was done with work for that day.  
  
Grimmjow, as a matter of fact, had a job that would take up a majority of his time. Every waking moment would be indulged in the mission he was given.  
  
The girl.  
  
According to Ichigo and Rukia's report, this girl, the same he briefly spoke to at school with, was the one Heaven had been searching for, for centuries.  
  
He walked the streets of the dimly lit Karakura, dressed in the uniform that the students wore. His white button down shirt had the first few buttons undone, exposing more skin than most did. With hands in pockets, he slowly walked, taking in the sights the human world had to offer.  
  
"It's been a while since I was here." He said to himself.  
  
"Things have really changed."  
  
Grimmjow continued walking, but didn't know exactly where he was going. He was given a room to stay in during his time in the human world, but he felt like he wasn't doing enough plopped in that room. He really enjoyed walking though, it got his blood moving and the gears in his mind turning and it just relaxed him.  
  
By now the sun had almost set, and that dawned on the fact that now would be the time the demons came out to play. This thought brought a huge smirk to Grimmjow's face.  
  
"Man...wouldn't that be some excitement. I haven't had a chance to beat those filthy pieces of shit in a while."  
  
And this made him remember further on the details provided by Ichigo and Rukia.  
  
'The girl seemed to be working with the same demon we had been searching for. It is believed that he has manipulated her, as she's now on their side. She protected him and fought against us. Our explanation is that the demon knows who she is too, and is manipulating her to get the powers he needs from her to reject the awakening."  
  
Thinking back on that girl, Orihime...he was still amused as to how someone like her could seriously spook the likes of Ichigo and Rukia. Grimmjow also found it bizarre as to how that filthy demon could wrap himself around the pure soul and have her do his bidding. He knew this was going to be an extremely difficult and tedious mission.  
  
He needed to get close to the girl, and showed her that demon is to not be trusted.  
  
Something triggered in Grimmjow's heart when he thought this.  
  
He was an angel now, yes. His past as being a devilish creature is no longer existent, but that doesn't mean the memories weren't there….  
  
He continued walking, the full moon lighting his way. And again, without any idea as to where he was going. But before he knew it though, he began to recognize a certain smell and presence.  
  
Grimmjow stopped and blinked, then looked around and began focusing on that energy. Once he had a direction where to follow, he began to walk eagerly towards it.  
  
To think, I was subconsciously tracking her down this whole time!  
  
As he gained more ground though, he felt another presence, and immediately he knew who it was.  
  
And according to his fellow angel's reports, it was none other than Ulquiorra, the devil's son.  
  
Grimmjow found himself standing in front of a small house. It was one story and had flowers surrounding it, at least that's what he could tell in the moon's light. There was a sidewalk leading up to the 3 steps to the porch and the door, and it seemed fairly quaint and simple.  
  
The sight of such a small and somewhat boring house, and the idea that the pure soul and the devil's son were in there, was so bizarre, that Grimmjow couldn't help but chuckle. His eyes narrowed after he finished and fixed themselves on the window where he could see the auburn-haired girl walk by.  
  
Grimmjow knew what he had to do. If he wanted to keep his place in heaven and never return to that dreadful dark world again, he had to make sure that at all costs, the pure soul didn't open herself up to Ulquiorra and the devil.  
  
He had to make her trust him.  
  


* * *

  
  
It was night time now and Orihime was getting ready for bed. She was dressed in her some baggy pink sleeping pant and a white tanktop. Her hair was up in a clip and she was washing her face in front of the bathroom sink.  
  
She had just showered and blow dried her hair and felt really tired. Tomorrow was Friday, so she had one more day until the weekend.  
  
When she dried her face with a small towel, she looked up at her reflection, and she could see her shoulder. The memory of Ulquiorra leaning his face against her there brought a luscious shade of red to paint itself across her cheeks, though, the towel was still half covering her face so she didn't even notice.  
  
She remembered how warm he felt, and this was odd for her to grasp. She knew who he was, and she was familiar with the extreme sadness that would follow him wherever he went. A feeling that she could feel from miles away and what lead her to him in the first place.  
  
Orihime didn't particularly like the feeling surrounding him, but was intrigued by it. She felt her heart clench because of it, due to how depressing it was. A part of her kind of just wanted to grab onto that feeling and rip it from him so he didn't have to experience it anymore.  
  
She didn't know his past or what he did to end up as the devil's son, and from the few religious beliefs Orihime had, she didn't think he was just burn into it randomly and given this role. Something must have lead to it, but neither she or Ulquiorra knows what.  
  
Orihime moved the towel away and looked at her reflection staring back at her. She saw her lips and remembered the feeling of what she thought was going to happen earlier that day….  
  
"I swear I thought he was going to kiss me….." She covered her mouth and shook her head. "Although I bet I'm just being silly…."  
  
In fact, she didn't even know what he was doing, and felt dumb for assuming such things. She's never even be kissed by a boy before, and Ulquiorra wasn't a regular boy, so she was probably freaking out just because she hugged him and wasn't used to be in such proximity with him that it got her nervous!  
  
Which is dumb!  
  
Orihime laughed half halfheartedly as she left the bathroom and walked out to the living room. She found Ulquiorra sitting on the couch in the exact same position as she left him. She took a breath and walked towards him.  
  
Tonight would be the second night he would be staying with her!  
  
Ulquiorra looked up at her as she approached. He took in her appearance…...her hair was up in a messy clip and the way her shirt tugged at her sides allowed him to see all the curves she had to offer. His eyes flashed across her chest and he felt his fingers clench into the couch…  
  
"So I was thinking…" Orihime started. Ulquiorra met her eyes as she began scratching her head, as if unsure of what she was saying.  
  
"That maybe instead of both of us sleeping on the floor again. "She chuckled, "That maybe you can take my bed and I'll crash on the couch. I think your um….wings would be too big to lay on the couch comfortably."  
  
Ulquiorra's lips tightened. He didn't like that at all….he couldn't take her bed from her, not what with her already letting a complete stranger stay in her house. He stood up and was about to speak.  
  
Orihime didn't allow him, "Hold it!" She held her hand up at him, which caused Ulquiorra to blink in confusion.  
  
"I know what you're gonna say." She crossed her arms. "Yeah yeah I get it, we're both kinda strangers and stuff…..but please don't feel bad about it! You saved me multiple times already and I want you to stay with me, I also want you to feel comfortable while with me so please I insist."  
  
She pointed to her bedroom and Ulquiorra's gaze followed it, before reaching back to her. The tone in her voice and the way she flushed cheeks matched her hair triggered something in him….but what? He wasn't sure.  
  
He didn't say anything, and Orihime realized he had been staring at her for a while. Her will suddenly began to shatter and she began speaking nervously and looked down.  
  
"I mean if you want to stay with me that is I know I basically forced you to stay here but you don't have to if you don't want…"  
  
Ulquiorra was taken back by her sudden change in spirit and the words she was saying now. He had to admit, it felt bad to have her think she was forcing him to stay….  
  
But it got him thinking as to why he wanted to stay in the first place? He could simply continue on his journey of finding the "girl who will reject." of hiding in trees during the day and flying at night, and keeping enough distance between himself and the angels.  
  
He could easily continue that life….but he didn't want to.  
  
"I want to be here with you."  
  
The words slipped out as soon as he thought them and his eyes tripled in size as he felt the words spill out.  
  
Orihime's head shot up surprised and looked at him, and he was still staring at her the way he had been moments ago. Her cheeks turned a bright shade of red as she began to fidget. Again, she dropped her eye contact with him and began to stutter once more…  
  
"I-I…..um, I want you to be here with me too!" She chuckled quietly as she spoke and played with her hands, avoiding eye contact with him.  
  
"So feel free to use the shower if you want, and please make yourself comfy, my bed has a great mattress…"  
  
Ulquiorra noticed her nervousness and didn't like it….  
  
"Okay." He finally said, after recovering from the words he just spoke. Although his face didn't show it, he felt himself heat up after saying those words...  
  
 _I want to be here with you._  
  
But with one thing she mentioned….he was interested in.  
  
"Can you show me how to work the shower?" He asked mechanically, although truth be told, he was quite curious…  
  
Orihime's eyes lit up and Ulquiorra couldn't help but want to stare at them, although she didn't give him that chance.  
  
"Of course!" She bursted as she ran back to the bathroom.  
  
Ulquiorra followed suit.  
  


* * *

  
  
It was an extremely tight fit. Ulquiorra had to push himself against her walls as he tried pressing himself in. But it felt really good….  
  
He felt a wave of warmth fall over him the longer he was there.  
  
The warm water fell over his face and body and he felt almost as good as he would be being basked in her warmth.  
  
Orihime gave him a pretty basic tutorial on how to use the faucets to get warm or cold water and how to turn it off. She also mentioned that unfortunately she only had women's shampoo. Ulquiorra inquired as to what that was and how to work it and Orihime tried her best to explain.  
  
His first impression of the substance was that it smelled exactly like her….and he wasn't keen on opposing the use of it. She said it made you clean and smell good, and best of all, it smelled like her.  
  
Ulquiorra had difficulty fitting his wings in the shower, so it was a bit of a tight fit, but nothing he couldn't manage.  
  
After he finished showering, he used the towel she left him and dried up his fur and hair to the best of his ability and walked out into the living room.  
  
He must have lost track of time because when he found her, she was sleeping on the couch with a plate of half eaten food on the table in front of the couch. She was cuddled up in a blanket, though, it was only covering half of her.  
  
The sight was serene, as he'd never seen her in a state like this, but it tugged something on the inside as he felt his eyes fall over the scene. He pulled the blanket a bit and folded it over her so it covered all of her, and turned off the light. He made his way to her bedroom and sat on the edge of her bed.  
  
The house was completely dark now, although that didn't bother Ulquiorra. Even though it was night time, he felt tired, which was strange. His usual routine of sleeping by day and up by night had been messed up ever since that first night he spent with her without her knowing.  
  
He laid back in the bed and dug his face into her pillow and breathed in her scent. It smelled so good…  
  
Ulquiorra grabbed it and held it close to him almost as if it was actually her, and fell asleep like that…..

* * *

  
  
It was the middle of the night and Orihime suddenly awoke in a jolt. She was half asleep and didn't recognize why she was in the living room but didn't stop to ask herself that question. She quickly made her way to the bathroom, and by quickly I mean, she ran as fast as she could while bumping into a decent amount of furniture on the way.  
  
Once she finished her business, she tiredly made her way back to her bedroom where she crashed on her mattress instantly.

* * *

  
  
Ulquiorra was having the most amazing dream. He dreamt that the pillow he had been pressing against him turned into the girl. He felt her lay next to him and and he was immediately intoxicated by her and her scent, although he was still half asleep.  
  
He pushed the pillow aside and wrapped his arm around her, and pulled her closer to him and breathed in her scent. His arm was wrapped over her waist while his other slid beneath her neck so she could use as a pillow.  
  
Most of Ulquiorra's dreams were nightmares that consisted of the same thing. The flashing of lights in a very dark space, and the sounds of screaming. In these nightmares, he wasn't a demon, but he could see that with every flashing of the light, he was transforming, and his once bare arms were slowly being covered in fur, the once nonexistent wings on his back grew, and the once fanciful feeling of despair was growing inside of him.  
  
It was the same dream over and over again.  
  
But dear god….this dream….  
  
Ulquiorra knew on the inside he was drawn to this girl, not just for her soul, but her being, her body, her everything too. His hands ran over her body as he took in all her curves. He gingerly lifted her shirt to move his hands up and traced his fingers against her skin, and he felt her shiver against his touch.  
  
In this dream, he knew he really wanted to do something he'll never be able to do in real life, and something that even in real life, he wasn't aware that he wanted to do….  
  
Ulquiorra raised his hand higher until he reached her breasts. She wasn't wearing a bra so he felt all her skin against him (at least as much as he could feel what with furry hands and all..)  
  
He laced his fingers over one of them and began to lightly squeeze, and loved the feeling ….he did it again and this time heard a noise come from her.  
  
God, what a dream…..  
  
He managed to get his other arm that she was currently using as a pillow and pull that hand up under her shirt as well and take hold of her other breast. He played with the bubbly mass in his grasp for a while, taking in all the noises she made, noises he never knew she was possible of producing, but again, this was only a dream.  
  
Ulquiorra dug his nose into her neck and took in a deep breath of her scent. Although his eyes were closed in the dream as well, he could feel and hear everything.  
  
Something warm released inside the demon and he wanted the press her harder against him for a reason he couldn't understand.  
  
Her shirt was getting in the way but both his hands were preoccupied, so with his tail, he managed to pull the shirt up higher so both her breasts and his hands were exposed. He traced his fingers over them and felt something odd.  
  
In the center, he felt a little nub stick out….he rubbed over it and heard a noise come from her….  
  
Intrigued, he did it again and another noise escaped from her. This time, he took two of his fingers and clenched the little nub between them. He didn't understand what he was doing, but he loved it and loved hearing the sounds come from her.  
  
His tail rested over hip waist, and so as his hands continued to play with her breasts and he continued to dig his face into her neck, his tail traced itself over her body…..teasing her exposed stomach and arms.  
  
He could feel all of her movements against him, and although he couldn't comprehend what he was doing in this dream, he basked in the fact that she seemed to like it too.  
  
Orihime's hair was still in a clip so her neck was bare for him. His lips were against her skin and for some reason, he felt an odd temptation to press them.  
  
He did and did it again, but this time opened his mouth when he pressed them and began to suckle on her neck.  
  
This enticed a moan like sound out of the girl, and when she did, an incredible wave of pleasure began falling over Ulquiorra, and for the love of god, he hoped that the pain wouldn't take over again, not in this perfect dream.

* * *

  
  
Orihime felt extremely warm.  
  
Her eyes were still closed but she was just beginning to wake up. She could feel the sun's heat fall over her body from the window, and her blanket was doing wonders. She felt so cozy that she didn't want to wake up yet….  
  
She laid there for a couple more moments, eyes still closed, as she took in this relaxing feeling.  
  
But then she felt something against her neck…..and she struggled to figure out what that was. She felt it again, and this time she could distinguish it as breathing…..  
  
Her eyes shot open.  
  
She was laying on her side facing away from the window, and she realized there wasn't blanket covering her at all. She felt something extremely warm behind her and digging into her back and butt, and there was something draped over her, but it wasn't a blanket.  
  
She slowly looked down as to what it was and…  
  
….it was two white arms wrapped around her.  
  
Orihime couldn't scream, for some reason her voice was dry, but her heart began to beat rapidly at what she was seeing.  
  
She tried to sit up but the arms were pulling her down. She managed to squeeze through them so they would be wrapped around only her waist instead of her chest and whole body, and was able to sit up once in that state.  
  
Instantly, she turned around as to what was holding her and her eyes tripled in fold.  
  
It wasn't Ulquiorra.  
  
This person didn't have wings, there was no fur on their arms or legs, no horns, no markings on their face or chest….on top of Orihime realizing that the sun's rays weren't burning his skin, there was something else….  
  
...he was naked.  
  
She stared at this person that was holding onto her and finally managed to scream. She threw herself off the bed and managed to pull away from his grasp. She fell backwards and yelped, her head slammed against the wall.  
  


* * *

  
  
Ulquiorra awoke at the sound of a shrill scream and feeling something pull him. He heard a bang against the wall and in exchange, in an effort of sitting up and realizing what happened, he fell over the other side of the bed too. He landed against the wall on his back with the calves of his legs still hanging over the edges of the bed.  
  
It took him a minute to realize where he was at.  
  
Luckily for him, the part of the bedroom that he fell into had no sunlight. so he was safe,  
  
"Dam, I forgot to close the window.." he murmured to himself.  
  
A few rays of sunshine were casting themselves on his feet, he felt them burn and immediately pulled his legs off the bed and retreated them into the dark shadowy part of the corner.  
  


* * *

  
  
Orihime rubbed her head in pain. She was now fully awake and she was freaking OUT! She heard….whoever that was….fall off the bed too and hit the wall on the other side of the bedroom. She quickly stood up, almost tripping over her sleeping pants and ran to where he was.  
  
Her hair was a mess, her face was burning with red, and her fists were clenched nervously as she made her way around the bed, preparing to see the naked white man that was grabbing her moments ago.  
  
But what she found stopped her dead in her tracks. It was Ulquiorra. The demon Ulquiorra, with the wings, the markings, the horns, and the fur, and he was trying his best to protect himself from the sun.  
  
His eyes met hers, and she could tell both of them were confused.  
  
Did I dream all of that? She wondered to herself.  
  
She quickly made her way over to the window and closed the shutters, then turned back to him.  
  
Ulquiorra stood up, "Thank you." He spoke.  
  
Orihime didn't say anything. Instead, she was trying to remember what happened last night. She remembered eating in front of the TV in the living room while Ulquiorra was showering, and now she woke up in her bedroom? After she told him he could sleep here?  
  
She was confused. But upon trying to recollect what happened, she recalled the dream last night that he was touching her. He was fondling her, and kissing her neck, and how it felt, and the shade of red plastered over her face seemed to grow even darker.  
  
"I-um, n-no problem." She responded.  
  
On the other hand, Ulquiorra was trying to remember what happened last night too. He fell asleep hugging the pillow and dreamt he was touching her. But he seemed unaware even up to this point that she had been sleeping with him this whole time.  
  
To him, all that seemed to happen was that he fell out of the bed after hearing screaming (Which must have just been a dream), and fully waking up to Orihime running over to see if he was alright.  
  
Both of them seemed to come to the conclusion that everything that happened must have been a dream. Orihime must have been sleeping on the couch, but she was half asleep to take in her surroundings properly. She must have ran over here after the dream she thought she woke up to, and finding Ulquiorra where he was now.  
  
In fact, she still felt kind of sleepy, so that explanation actually made some pretty good sense. She rubbed her eyes and lazily looked back up to him.  
  
"Good morning…" she started. "Um...why were you on the floor?" She inquired, as a means of double checking if her story was correct.  
  
Ulquiorra walked towards her and answered in a bit of a confused tone, although maintaining his monotone aesthetic, "I'm….not sure. I think I was dreaming and heard a loud noise, then the next thing I knew I was on the floor."  
  
Orihime inwardly sighed in relief. So it's exactly what I thought!  
  
"Are you okay?" She asked as she made her way out the door, Ulquiorra followed suit. He merely nodded his head and grunted in response.  
  
He watched her walk ahead of him, and his eyes fell over her body, and immediately he was reminded of that dream he had.  
  
As if she was reading her mind, she asked, "So what were you dreaming about?"  
  
Ulquiorra paused for a moment, thinking about what to say, then finally responded.  
  
"I don't remember."  
  
But that was a lie….  
  
Upon saying this, he felt something coming, and he knew what it was, it was the incredible amount of pain that always came after being around her.  
  
By now they were both out of the room, and Ulquiorra nearly collapsed as he grabbed onto one of the chairs around the dining table. His wings began to rattle in anguish as the sensation took over his body.  
  
Orihime spun around and once she took in the scene before her, she knew what was happening. He had the same painful expression as when he collapsed near her window not that long ago. She quickly rushed to his side and helped him stand up by having him lean on her shoulder.  
  
Ulquiorra winced at the pain but also felt the pleasure creep up as well battling his domain as she was touching him. He felt a heavy war battling inside him.  
  
She managed to set him down on the couch. He was heavy, a lot of heavier than her, but she was able to make it. Once she set him down, she tried to catch her breath.  
  
Orihime could hear him moan in pain as he squirmed slightly, and the mere sight of it began to tug at her heart again.  
  
"You're always in pain!" She cried out. "You threw up last night, you collapsed the night before, and you're about to again from all the pain, and there's nothing I can do." She covered her eyes with one hand and clenched her first with another.  
  
Yes, Ulquiorra was in pain but he was a bit taken back by her reaction and how much it seemed to upset her. It tugged something inside him and he didn't like it, he didn't like making her worry or burdening her with himself. For some odd reason, he found himself grabbing her hand and squeezed tightly as he felt the pain increase.  
  
Orihime looked at him as he squeezed her hand. Her eyes were tear-stained but when she saw him slowly release his grasp, she saw the pain escaped from his expression and he sighed.  
  
"I'm sorry." He said, with his eyes closed as he continued to breathe heavily.  
  
She was sure that he fell asleep again, but as soon as she sat next to him, his eyes lidded open and he looked at her.  
  
He didn't know what came to him, but as soon as he saw her with that worried expression painted across her face, he found her to look extremely lovely.  
  
Her hair was free from it's clip now and draped over her shoulders gracefully. She scooted a bit closer to him and she brought her hand near his face hesitantly before brushing away some of his hair from his features. She continued to do this all the while with worried features still plastered on her face.  
  
Orihime didn't keep eye contact with him, in fact she was avoiding it, but trust me when I say her eyes fell over every other feature of his face and taking it in. Her fingers began to glide against his cheeks and she cupped them with her palm.  
  
She stayed like that for a moment, and Ulquiorra felt her about to pull her hand away, but he didn't allow her. He quickly grabbed hold of her hand and held it there, his eyes lidded and he sighed heavily but contently.  
  
It still amazed him that she could be this comfortable around him. To hug him, to touch him, to look at him with such concerned expressions and cry over him. It was a bizarre sight for him, but he basked in the fact that he could feel drawn to her without scaring her away.  
  
Orihime was shocked when he grabbed her hand and held it there, but a part of her felt pleased by that. He wasn't disgusted with her touching him, which was odd to say the least when she thought about who she was and who he was. She felt his tail scoot up around her and wrap itself around her waist, and if she was correct, it felt like he was trying to use his tail to pull her closer to him,  
  
Right now Ulquiorra wanted nothing more than to replay that dream last night. He could feel her warmth radiating from her being and it felt so nice, he wanted to feel her against his skin and never let her go.  
  
His fingers twitched as he thought about the noises he heard her make in his dream and wondered if she would do the same in real life.  
  
Just as he was about to pull her towards him, he felt her pull away and he was utterly disappointed. His eyes opened and they met hers as she began to speak.  
  
"I should be getting ready for school now…" Although it took an incredible amount of effort for her to finally stand up and pull away. She swore her face was the darkest shade of red it's ever been and she turned away her face away shyly as she felt Ulquiora staring at her.  
  
She began to walk towards her bedroom to get her school uniform.  
  
"Will you be okay by yourself?" She called out to him.  
  
Ulquiorra sighed upon the sight of her pulling away from him. He knew for humans, school was important, and didn't want to strain her anymore from stopping her. Besides he was a guest in her household, and a demon nonetheless….  
  
"I'll be fine.  
  
Before he knew it, Orihime gave him her goodbyes and he found himself alone in her home once more, as he again reminisced the dream he had the night before.


	11. The Big Bang

In the beginning there was a light. A single bright light that illuminated the nothingness that existed. This single source of light existed before any darkness was born that would eventually taint it.  
  
From that light stood God. He had been there as long as the light and it was all he had ever known. From this light he was granted an immense amount of power, and with it he created the universe.  
  
His first creation was an angel. He wished for a companion to share the light with. It would be the first thing created and as if he had done it before, a voice in the back of his mind warned him “Even in light, there is darkness.” It surprised him but he pressed onward, hoping to rid himself of this loneliness.  
  
An angel was born in his image. Just as God was, he was dressed in a simple white cloak that matched the pure light around them.  
  
The angel opened his eyes and saw a man with white silver shimmering hair. His eyes appeared almost closed and he held a cunning smile as he reached his arm out towards the angel.  
  
He grabbed the man’s hand and pulled himself up.  
  
“Who are you?” The angel asked.  
  
“I am God.” He replied, the cunning smile never left his face.  
  
The angel looked around and saw nothing but the light. He realized the light was coming from this type of star that they were engulfed in. Although everything was white, he noticed in the center of the star, it shown a hue of gold.  
  
“And what is your name?” God asked..  
  
Even though he had never been told what and who he was, it was as if his soul was born knowing.  
  
“Aizen.”  
  
“Well Aizen, you are about to see something amazing happen.” God paused for a moment. “I wanted someone to be here with me to experience it.”  
  
And just like that, he began to wave his hands gracefully as what seemed to be the power of the star was being called. But then something caught God’s eye in the distance and his hand movements paused.  
  
God stared past the newly born Angel, with concern painting his features. Aizen in turn, turned around to see what God was looking at.  
  
In the distance, he could see it, as if it tainted the purity around them, he could see a black form taking shape.  
  
“What is that?” Aizen asked, mesmerized by it. He couldn’t understand what it was, but for some reason the sight of it completed captured the angel and he couldn’t pull his eyes away.  
  
“I don’t know….” God started, as he shifted his gaze to the angel, “It didn’t appear until you got here.”  
  
Just then the black form in the distance began to grow at an alarming rate. A sense of of urgency played out through God’s hands as the power from the star graced at the movement of his fingers. Everything turned gold as a flash of an even brighter light erupted from the star.  
  
These shards of gold light spread across time and expanded the universe in a matter of seconds, all orchestrated by the hand of God.  
  
“These lights will soon be their own stars…” God began, as the light continued to rush past them, expanding the universe.   
  
After a couple of moments, the expansion was too much for the shards of light to be able to reach all points of the universe, and left behind was nothing. This nothing took form the shape of darkness.  
  
God began to explain, “Without light there is nothing.” His hand continued to reach out to guide the light.  
  
“And that is what you see, this darkness engulfing the lights to be.”  
  
The sight mesmerized Aizen. “But Why?” He asked.  
  
Soon the universe turned dark except for the tiny white dots of the new-born stars. The star they were engulfed in only moments ago lost its form as it spread across the sky and created the universe.   
  
The last remaining bit of the pure star was an orb of gold. The sight of it was captivating, as in the darkness around them, it shone so bright.  
  
God held the orb in his hands and finally answered Aizen’s question.  
  
“Pure is pure, but without nothing there is no life.”  
He began to dissolve the orb into individual golden shards and then threw them out into space and time. A few pieces he kept in his hand, and Aizen took note of this.  
  
And so God began to speak about the wonders of the world as he held these shards, and as he spoke the things came to life and the shards glowed.  
  
He spoke of trees, of water, of the sun, of different universes, of mankind, of animals, of laughter, and of love.  
  
“I am no creator.” God spoke. “I am merely a guardian of this purity. But what is the point of guarding this purity when there is no life.”  
  
“I realized this a long time ago, and I finally put this power I have guarded to some use. Purity is nothing when there is no life.”  
  
These words stuck to Aizen.  
  
Just then, the black form that originally tainted the pure light began to form again.   
  
From where God and Aizen stood on the foundation of the soon to be heaven, they could see the galaxies and stars above them. It was absolutely beautiful.  
  
God frowned and said, “But the cost of life comes at a price, the light that I guard is not enough to keep everything cleansed as it once was.”  
  
The black form began to grow in the distance.  
  
Although the universe had only existed for no more than a few moments from when the star expanded at God’s will, the light had expanded so much so far that in reality millions of years had passed.  
  
All the darkness that existed and formed throughout all of time began to take shape into a single black form, that Aizen and God could see unfold before them.  
  
“Mankind isn’t all good.” God continued, completely aware of all the darkness men were committing and the evil being done as millions of years passed in a matter of seconds for them.  
  
Aizen was aware of it as well, he could also see, hear, feel, and experience life violently as the seconds passed. He could hear the prayers of mankind, he could feel the good and the bad being committed. Soon it became too much and he fell to his knees, breaking down.  
  
“Please make it stop!” He cried, covering his ears.  
  
It wasn’t just the universe, it was hundreds of them existing and all flourishing with life and Aizen could feel it all. He couldn’t take it. But then he felt a hand on his forehead and just like that, his thoughts were freed. He opened his eyes and met them with God who held a solemn expression.  
  
‘Was he experiencing all that I was experiencing just now?’ Aizen thought to himself.  
  
‘...is he still experiencing it?’  
  
“I’m sorry,” God spoke sadly. “I thought you would be able to handle it.”   
  
He reached out to Aizen and pulled him back up on his feet.  
  
“I wanted someone to experience this with and there was a chance you wouldn’t be able to handle it, but that’s okay.”  
  
God guided his hand towards the black form that was still growing. Up to this point it was huge. So much though that Aizen didn’t even realize until he looked up at it.   
  
He could no longer experience life flourishing in his mind and hear the sounds of the universe as he was able to moments ago. But he was able to feel the density of the black form in front of him. It was so thick and heavy and felt like death that it smothered Aizen.  
  
He realized now that the reason he felt this madness in his mind before growing tremendously was because of this black form getting closer. And soon it stood before them.  
  
It was only growing by the second, swallowing up all light around it that God created moments ago.  
  
It was as if it was being pulled towards them...but why?  
  
They were about to be swallowed by it whole until God held out his hand with one of the pieces of golden shards he had before, and a golden sphere encapsulated them, and it was as if time froze around them.  
  
God gestured Aizen to follow him into the black...hole, atleast that’s what it looked like up close.   
  
The golden shield kept both of them safe, and it was if each step forward into the black hole with the gold light, caused the energy around the black hole to diminish.   
  
Soon they reached the center of and Aizen gasped at what he saw.  
  
“What is that?”  
  
In the center of the black hole he saw a dark creature lying on the floor unconscious. It had black wings, a tail, and horns. It looked absolutely horrifying.  
  
As they came closer, Aizen could see a gaping hole in the creature's chest.  
  
Gold held out the golden shard and the closer it got to the creature, the brighter it shined.   
  
When they were a mere few steps away from the creature, God stopped walking. Finally ready to answer Aizen’s previous question, he began explaining.  
  
“A price of life is free will. And with free will you cannot guarantee purity. If I wanted to make a perfect world, then I would simply go back to that existence you saw before. But that is not life.”  
  
The golden shard in his hand began to shake violently as if it was aching to be closer to the creature.  
  
God pressed onward.  
  
“This creature is as symbol of despair for mankind. He is the entity of all darkness in the world. And this creature was once a man as well. He did not live a good life, in fact he lived a very hard one. What he has become now is something other humans will fall into as well once they give up their feel will to the darkness in all of us.”  
  
“He is the first of his kind and that’s why he’s very special. It is with my intention after he is cleansed, there will be one less dark spot in the universe.  
  
God reached his hand forward, past the golden sphere seamlessly, and finally released the golden shard.  
  
As if acting like magnets and drawn to each other, the shard of light snapped into the creature's chest, and the light intensified, causing a momentary flash of white, followed by an aching scream from the creature as it awoke.   
  
The hole in his chest was filled and the demonic characteristic on his features melted away. His eyes snapped open as he took a deep and heavy breath, as if air were filling his lungs for the first time.  
  
God turned to the angel, and smiled with that oh so cunning smile he always had, and spoke these words that Aizen would never forget.  
  
“The purest energy will become the strongest when it’s needed the most. And the purest source of energy will always be drawn to the darkest of realms of this universe.  
  


* * *

  
“ORIHIME!!!!!!!!!”  
  
Orihime’s head shot up in the middle of class. For a moment she forgot where she was as her senses were still making their way back to her, and she yelled out, “PUT THE BREAD DOWN!” and slammed her fists on the table.  
  
Finally, her senses reached her, and she looked up to see her teacher staring at her angrily.  
  
Had she fallen asleep in class?  
  
Her face immediately fell to that of a rose when she realized the entire class had been staring at her.   
  
“I’m--uh--uh…”   
  
“Save it Orihime.” The teacher interjected. “Just see me after class.”  
  
Orihime nodded, ashamed. How could she fall asleep in class? Seriously she really hadn’t been acting herself, and she prided herself in her studies, so this bothered her.  
  
The class had returned their attention back to the teacher’s lecture, but Orihime still felt a set of eyes watching her.  
  
At that she snapped her head in the direction she felt them and was met with bright blue eyes. She saw the sight of the new student, Grimmjow, covering his mouth trying to hold back laughter. His face was red as he gave it all he could to stifle his laugh.  
  
Her face fell to an even darker shade of red, if that was possible, and turned away embarrassed.  
  
“Oh geez oh geez,” She murmured to herself. “I really humiliated myself this time.”  
  
From behind her she heard Grimmjow let out a heavy breath as he regained his composure and was no longer on the verge of losing it in class.  
  
Pure soul or not, that was fucking hilarious.  
  
Orihime turned her attention back to the teacher and tried her best to stay caught up with the lesson as she had already missed most of it sleeping…  
  
The lesson was about the big bang and black holes.  
  
“The universe is constantly expanding, in fact the lights expandings from the big bang are still travelling, spreading across the universe.”  
  
Orihime quickly tried writing it down as the teacher walked up to the chalkboard and wrote something.   
  
“Dark Matter.” She poke as she underlined the words on the board.  
  
“Dark matter is the emptiness of the universe. All that empty space is actually dark matter and it’s believed to be the driving force of what’s expanding our universe. That is why every year we are getting farther and farther away from our sun.”  
  
“This is only a theory….” the teacher continued as she paced the front of the room. “But scientists believe black holes are actually dense locations of dark matter that collapse in on itself. After that it becomes one of the heaviest things in the universe. So dense, dark, and heavy. It eats up all the light in the universe. No light can escape it.   
  
The bell rang.   
  
“Alright class,” The teacher spoke over the shuffling sound of students packing up. “You are dismissed. Be sure to study over these notes as you will be tested on the material tomorrow.”

* * *

  
  
Orihime stayed back in class and received another lecture about being responsible and paying attention. She also received a heart to heart talk from her teacher about Orihime's family situation and living on her own and how important her education is for someone in her situation.  
  
She pressured Orihime the importance of school and college and building a future for yourself. Afterwards she gave her the notes she missed from the beginning part of class.  
  
Orihime was grateful but her mind was preoccupied. She understood the importance of school but after all of these crazy things that happened to her, her life that used to be her whole world seemed so small. Nowadays, all that seemed to take up her mind were angels, demons, spirits, most most-of-all Ulquiorra.  
  
On her way out though, she was so engrossed with her thoughts that she nearly bumped into someone standing in front of the door.  
  
She lost her footing and clutched her school books to her chest as she stumbled to recover her footing.   
  
It was quite a display actually.  
  
Grimmjow grabbed a hold of her arm and kept her steady. He looked at her with a puzzled expression as she attempted to regain her composure  
  
Orihime blinked and looked up at him when he touched her arm.  
  
“I’m sorry!” She blurted out. “I didn’t see you---”  
  
“It’s cool,” Grimmjow interrupted, “I was kind of asking for it standing right in front of the damn door.” He chuckled.  
  
Orihime gave a small awkward laugh in response. She nodded her head and went on her way before Grimmjow could say anything anything else. But even if he could, he found himself unable to.  
  
After releasing her, he felt something inside of him. And as she brushed past him, he saw her hairpins shine momentarily. It was just for a split second, but he saw it.  
  
She was already down the hall as he looked down at his hands that just touched her arm mere seconds before.  
  
This feeling began building inside of him and he knew what it was.  
  
That was the first time they had touched, and that was the first time he had ever been in physical contact with a pure soul.  
  
The feeling grew in the pit of his stomach and he had a sudden urge to follow her.   
  


* * *

  
  
When he found her, she was sitting outside under a tree with a group of friends.   
  
Grimmjow felt bothered because he knew every moment of this mission counted. Every passing day she would get closer to that demon when he needed her to trust him, not Ulquiorra.  
  
It pissed him off even more because he knew that demon was living with her! But he couldn’t take the advantage he had in this situation lightly. Ulquiorra couldn’t leave the house, he couldn’t be out during the day, and most importantly he couldn’t be at school with her.  
  
With that thought, he made his way towards the group sitting in the grass. He spent enough days already here contemplating whether or not he should approach them, and how. But after kind-of interacting with her today, he felt he had the willpower to do it.  
  


* * *

  
  
Orihime was just about to take a bite of her toast with red bean paste spread when Tatsuki shoved their shoulder into her side, causing her to almost drop her lunch.  
  
“W-wha-”  
  
“Orihime do you know that guy?” She gestured towards the blue haired student making his way towards them.  
  
“Oh!” She perked up, “Yeah! He’s in a few of my classes, he’s started here the other day.”  
  
Neliel jumped into the conversation, “Well it looks like he’s coming over to you.”  
  
Tatsuki chuckled, “Well if he is coming over here, he’s not the only one trying to get your attention.”   
  
She looked over to the other half of their friend group to where Kiego, Mizuiro, Chad, and the newest specimen Uryu sat. Uryu had just recently started sitting with them and everyone knew he was only here because of Orihime.   
  
Tatsuki sighed, of course Orihime wasn’t the wiser. And as Grimmjow took a seat next to her orange haired friend, ignoring the stares of everyone around them, it was obvious Orihime was going to be oblivious to this as well. 

* * *

  
  
“Heya.” Grimmjow spoke nonchalantly as he took a seat next to Orihime. He could feel everyone’s eyes on him but he didn’t care.  
  
“Oh um hello!” Orihime chirped.  
  
“Do you mind if I sit here?” Grimmjow asked, despite, already sitting there.  
  
Everyone knowing Orihime wasn’t one to say no, they weren’t surprised when she eagerly welcomed Grimmjow to the group. She didn’t know much about him but that didn’t stop her kindness from showing through as she introduced everyone to one of her newest classmates.   
  
Although she went through the motions of being the social butterfly she usually was as she introduced everyone to Grimmjow, her mind wandered back to Ulquiorra. She imagined what it would have been like to have Ulquiorra here and being able to introduce him to Tatsuki and Neliel and Chad and everyone….of course she imagined what it would be like if Ulquiorra was a regular human and he didn’t have to be afraid of sunlight. But even if she couldn’t explain it well, she didn’t completely dislike the fact that he couldn’t be in the sun. Or at least being somewhat sensitive to it. It kind of fit him. She could imagine him dressing in long-sleeved shirts and a baseball cap when having to go out in public with her so the sun’s light wouldn’t touch him. The thought of it amused her greatly. Which also came the idea of what would happen if ----  
  
“You there Hime?”  
  
Orihime found herself crashing back to reality when Grimmjow’s hand waved in front of face.   
  
  
She must have zoned out again. It was happening a lot lately.  
  
“Oh sorry!” She blushed slightly. She tried to continue introducing all of her friends to Grimmjow but he interrupted her.   
  
“Hey now, you just finished introducing everyone, no need for a round two.” A couple of people in the group heard his remark and shared a laugh at his response to Orihime’s antics.   
  
“Anyways,” Grimmjow tried veering off, “Have any of you guys seen what’s been going on around town lately? I just moved here and there was those light-outages and murders and explosions recently.  
  
Grimmjow caught Orihime suddenly stiffen herself and eyes grew wider. He also took note as she fumbled her hands together trying to think of what to say. Thankfully for her though Kiego jumped in on a banter about how his sister blamed him for the noises of the explosions that night and refused to believe him that it was coming from outside, not his room, until she saw the news the next day. And how messed up that was.  
  
Grimmjow inwardly sighed. Would this guy shut up? He turned back to Orihime as he leaned back and rested himself on his elbows and adjusted himself more comfortably in the grass.   
  
“Did you hear about it Orihime?” If she wasn’t going to say anything herself he would ask her directly.  
  
Orihime turned slightly around to see Grimmjow’s face since he was almost laying down at this point. She didn’t notice but as he laid down he brought himself closer to her, to the point where their hands were almost touching. She may not have noticed but everyone in the group did.  
  
She found herself stumbling for her words and before she could answer though, the bell rang.   
  
Everyone around them stood up and collected their things, except Orihime and Grimmjow. She found herself trapped under his predatory gaze, and it had her frozen. It was as in he was looking inside of her and knew everything that happened that night and just wanted her to re-affirm it. Although that made no sense because there should be no reason Grimmjow would know anything, she couldn’t help but feel defensive on how the question seemed to interrogate her personally.   
  
Orihime finally managed to pull her eyes away and stood up to follow the rest of her friends. The bell was still ringing in the background and that was her ticket out, so even if she tried talking nobody would have heard, so it was a perfect excuse to dodge the question.   
  
Yes, of course, she heard about it. It was down the street from her. She was the cause of the explosion. And this was the first time she felt reality kind of crashing down on her. She caused that explosion whether she remembered it or not, and she was living with an entity from another world, who was being tracked down by spiritual beings.  
  
As she stood up and pulled away Grimmjow was so close to grabbing her hand and pulling her back to him. Being this close to her was intoxicating and for a moment he sympathized with what that demon was experiencing being around her 24/7.   
  
She was absolutely captivating.   
  
As most of the student’s left the courtyard at this point, Grimmjow finally stood up and made his way to class. He finally had more contact with her, and he had an opening into her social group. So it wouldn’t be odd for him to be back again tomorrow. And by her response to him bringing up the events of that night, he felt a bit more confident.   
  
The mission he felt was finally starting. But he needed to hurry.


	12. Just a Taste

Most people know of the story of the battle that went down in heaven. God's most trusted angel felt they should be in power and tried to revolt against him with other angel's support. And that's exactly what happened many many hundreds of thousands of centuries ago.  
  
Heaven had been created and it was soon inhabited by hundreds of angels who served at God's command to help protect the humans.  
  
God had starting going by the name Gin as he felt it better represented him. Others continued to refer to him as God but deep down Gin knew he wasn't really a God. He was really just a guardian of the original light that existed and used it to make something amazing. He felt like he was more of a caretaker and not an all mighty God.  
  
Aizen had been through it all with the God of this world and all the other angels looked up to his rank and status. But there were some fundamental differences between Aizen and the other angels. All of these minions blindly followed God and never questioned anything and there some things Aizen just didn't understand. The humans that God had made could think and feel and did things on their own. They had a choice and free will. Yet the angel's in heaven apparently did not?  
  
The humans were Gin's most prized possession. In fact that's why he created the universe in the first place. Yet the human's did evil, more evil than all the angel's combined, and they were shown mercy by God. There was no consequence and Aizen didn't agree with that. The amount of evil they committed was so much in the few seconds he felt life flourish before Gin took the burden away from his mind, but even for that short amount of time it was enough to ingrain itself in Aizen's soul. After that moment and seeing the evil and the wars his opinion of the humans were permanent. They were disgusting and God was too blind to see that.  
  
His was made to look after these humans. His comrades were made to protect these humans. This enchanted world was to be a home for the human's spirits once they departed and Aizen couldn't stand it. He knew his opinions to God were different and he never really brought it up. But the more time that passed the more he found it hard to keep quiet. His entire existence and meaning was a joke and the more time that passed, the more his anger grew.  
  
In fact the humans deserved nothing. They deserved pain and suffering. They deserved a place to be punished. All of them did. And being there since the beginning gave Aizen an insight the other angels did not have. Why would God create this world in the first place? For what purpose? In Aizen's mind there was no reason and his anger fueled these thoughts as time progressed.  
  
One thing that baffled Aizen beyond comprehension, was despite being the first angel and Gin's most trusted angel, there was still someone above him. And that was Ulquiorra, God's most beloved son. He was held on a pedestal as a symbol of hope for humanity.  
  
Ulquiorra was born from the suffering and despair of humanity. So much in fact that it created a hole in the universe that absorbed all light and matter. Aizen was there for it all, to see this creature be born from the scum of humanity and then to be saved by Gin's grace.  
  
To Gin, this saving act he did on Ulquiorra was a symbol of what could be done with humanity if they held faith in the good of this world and their choices they made.  
  
But to Aizen it was absolute garbage. This menace was created from the evil acts of mankind. So much evil just packed onto each other until it literally broke the universe that God had made by splitting a hole in the middle of it.. So much darkness that it just attracted more and more filth and fed off of it like a parasite. It was disgusting. And yet Gin used his precious power to save this pathetic creature and held him up as an example for humanity.  
  
Ulquiorra didn't deserved to be saved. And neither did the rest of the humans. And God was a fool for thinking otherwise. These thoughts festered in his mind until finally Aizen could no longer hide them. One by one he changed the opinions of these mindless angels to follow him until eventually a war broke out in Heaven. It was Gin vs Aizen. It was the turned angels vs the loyal angels.  
  
Gin had known from the beginning when Aizen was made that there was something dark about him. He knew everything and also was aware of all of Aizen's thoughts. That was partly why he tried to save Ulquiorra in the first place, to show him that humanity had hope. That was why he used him as an example to see if Aizen's thoughts would ever change. But that was the consequence of free will and Aizen had it. He had the choice to do what he wanted and form reasoning to his actions. And with that free will Aizen decided humanity was a mistake and must be stopped.  
  
The silver haired creator didn't want to admit it to himself but he was naive in the creation of the humans. He had hope still but everything Aizen felt held substance. Although Gin knew all of this and all of the evils of the world he felt deep down they all had a chance for redemption. And he had a perfect example...Ulquiorra.  
  
He took him in like a son and told him all of the wonders of the world and the free will of humanity. Ulquiorra was intrigued and also had no memory of his past life as an empty black hole full of despair and he was glad that he didn't.  
  
But when the war broke out Gin realized he underestimated the evil intentions in Aizen and his free will. By letting him be and having hope he would come around he put his other angels and the humans in danger and that was when he decided that maybe just maybe he had made a mistake.  
  
This mistake wasn't confirmed until Aizen took away something very precious to Gin. Because Aizen was there from the beginning of creation he knew how Ulquiorra was saved, so he knew how to destroy him.  
  
In the middle of an ugly battle in Heaven the son of the creator found himself fighting the one who was behind this war. Ulquiorra thought he knew everything but Aizen knew just a bit more. When he had an opening he pushed his hands into Ulquiorra's chest and crumpled his heart that was born from the light many many years ago. Unfortunately things didn't go exactly as planned.  
  
Originally, Aizen was intending on using the light shard inside Ulquiorra to reverse the big bang. But as soon as Aizen pulled the light shard out of his pale chest, it crumpled to pieces and he didn't understand why.  
  
Ulquiorra turned back into a monstrous beast and his memories of his past lives came back and let out a roar of pain that sounded all throughout heaven. His demonic features grew back and a hole replaced itself where his heart used to be. As soon as Gin heard it he rushed to Ulquiorra's aid but it was too late.  
  
His heart was gone.  
  
The symbol of hope to humanity had been crushed and all it took was a little squeeze of the heart to shatter it. To Aizen this proved just how weak humanity was if this was their symbol, their savior, their hope. But at the same time, Aizen's plan to defeat Gin had been lost as soon as the light shard crumpled to dust.  
  
In a fit of rage, Gin banished Aizen from heaven and all of the angels that followed him. His thoughts on hope and peace and compassion had been altered and he was going to make something new with the last light shard he had. It was the last one he owned and Aizen knew of it, for in the beginning he kept one in his pocket. And with that light shard he created a place for sinners like Aizen to go in order to keep the rest of humanity safe.  
  
Gin called it hell and took the title of the highest ranked angel from Aizen and replaced it with "The Devil." In a way Aizen's thoughts had touched Gin, because now a place existed that would punish humans that were just like this rebellious angel. In the end Gin did what Aizen had been preaching and the thought shook the creator to his core.  
  
As one final act of revenge though, Aizen grabbed Ulquiorra as he was being forced out of Heaven by the power of the shard. He knew that there were other light shards out there in these many universes that existed. So on his descent to the middle of the fiery trenches of the Earth, Aizen turned Ulquiorra to dust and sent his cosmic essence into the stars.  
  
For he knew that anywhere Ulquiorra was, that the light shards would appear. He knew they were drawn to each other. And he remembered the words that Gin had spoken to him long ago.  
  
"The purest energy will become the strongest when it's needed the most. And the purest source of energy will always be drawn to the darkest of realms of this universe."  
  
With those words, Aizen knew that by sending Ulquiorra out into the cosmos, eventually he would draw out the infinite power. Even though he was being banished to hell, there was still hope for Aizen to take over, for he would find Ulquiorra in another universe and use him to find the light.  
  
With that light he knew he could take over heaven and get his revenge on Gin, and as we know that's exactly what he did.  
  
When enough time had passed as the ruler of Hell, Aizen discovered a way to travel between universes. He was still the strongest angel to exist and Gin could never take that away. He travelled from universe to universe to see if Ulquiorra would show.  
  


* * *

  
  
In one universe where Heaven and Hell weren't the main places for souls to proceed in their after life, Aizen thought he found what he was looking for. The souls in this universe were a bit different because they had their regular lives they experienced, and an after life in either a place called Soul Society of Hueco Mundo, from that afterlife they would eventually make their way to the main universe where he came from and where Heaven and Hell existed.  
  
It was in this universe that Aizen found himself in the 1st afterlife in soul society where he heard of an item that could produce extremely powerful entities. The entities were derived from heartless monsters known as Hollows which was the equivalent to demons in his world but were a bit different. A hollow could eventually end up in his universe as a demon. If that were to happen they would probably be way more powerful than regular demons as they had an additional afterlife behind them that gave room to more growth, pain, and power.  
  
Aizen had followed the man who made such an item, which was called the hougyokou. He believed that if this item could produce such strong and powerful beings that derived from pain and suffering, that this was his sure chance on finding Ulquiorra, and in turn find the light shard.  
  
All the while, Gin was aware of Aizen's plan and followed him to this alternate universe. For Gin was also in search of Ulquiorra and wanted to find the other light shards but for a different purpose.  
  
He wanted to save Ulquiorra.  
  
But in order to do that he had to be discreet in this new universe. With more than half of his remaining power, Gin managed to block Aizen's memories of heaven and hell and of what happened many years ago. He altered them and Aizen's anger toward himself and replaced it with an imaginary image of someone known as the soul king.  
  
With new memories, Gin could now present himself to Aizen in this universe without the fallen angel ever being aware of who either of them actually was. And that's exactly what he did. He stayed by Aizen's side the whole time as his most trusted companion in an effort to defeat the "soul king."  
  
Aizen was still aware he was looking for a dark entity, even with parts of his memory changed. But for the time he was in this universe he no longer had any memory of who he really was and came to believe he was and always had been Aizen Souske, Captain of the Court Guard Squad whose ultimate goal was to find an item that would produce a being with enough power in order to overthrow the "soul king".  
  
For now, Gin had Aizen right where he wanted him. But it was still his goal to find Ulquiorra and the golden light shards.  
  
In the beginning of their story in this new universe, Gin was unsure as to what the light shard might be and how it's cosmic dust would take shape in this universe and if it would at all. It could be an item, an animal, a man, a woman, anything actually. He also wasn't sure if Ulquiorra would appear in this universe at all.  
  
But the knowledge of these powerful entities being born from the hougyokou also intrigued Gin. He had faith that just maybe he would find Ulquiorra as a result, and in return find the golden light.  
  
For whenever one appeared, so to would the other, and they were bound to be brought together.  
  
It was just a waiting game now.  
  


* * *

  
  
It had been a crazy school week for Orihime but it was finally coming to an end. So much had happened and so much had changed, and everyday she'd find herself running out of school in order to see Ulquiorra. But today, unfortunately, that wouldn't happen  
  
It was Friday which was the usual day her entire class stayed after school for a bit to clean. Although that didn't register with Orihime until the class guidance counselor, Mrs. Matsumoto stopped by before the bell rang and delivered the delightful news they were to clean ALL the rooms on the floor today!  
  
The entire class' expression went from a happy greeting to an agitated moan from Matsumoto's wonderful news. She assigned different classrooms for different students to focus on and Orihime's heart nearly sunk when she heard  
  
"Grimmjow and Orihime, you're assigned to this room!"  
  
Grimmjow wasn't paying attention but his head shot to the beautiful woman in the front of the classroom when he heard her call out those two names.  
  
This was perfect.  
  
The woman had long strawberry hair and glasses and was dressed a bit too provocatively for someone that was a guidance counselor for teenagers. But to Grimmjow she didn't compare to Orihime.  
  
The dread on Orihime's face was apparent and she quickly tried to recompose herself. There was nothing wrong with Grimmjow but the way he spoke to her during lunch about the explosions earlier this week as if he knew something about her made her anxious.  
  
Gossip had spread through the class like a wildfire, but Orihime wasn't the wiser. Her group of friends saw the way Grimmjow looked at her at lunch today and how he kept trying to scoot closer to her. Once Kiego asked the blue-haired student what he thought of her and he responded with, "She's cute, there's something about her…" all hope of preventing any talk of the two as a possible couple was lost.  
  
Kiego, of course, told everyone, so when their names were called together everyone turned to look at the two of them. Orihime looked extremely nervous and she blushed profusely and Grimmjow had a cocky grin plastered across his face.  
  
Although to the rest of the class it looked as if it was something else, no one knew it was because of Orihime's secret she was hiding as to why she was nervous, and Grimmjow's secret mission relating to the auburn haired student.  
  
After the rest of the names were called out all the student's left to the classrooms they were assigned to, leaving Grimmjow and Orihime alone in the room.  
  
By that time, Orihime had managed to convince her anxiety away.  
  
Grimmjow was just a new student who asked about the crazy news that had happened.  
  
That's not too weird. And she was sure that the way he looked at her wasn't because he knew about her secret, he probably looks at everyone like that. He had a bit of an intimidating and scary face to begin with so she was just overthinking. Overthinking is what Orihime does best!  
  
She sat up and turned to face her cleaning partner whose seat was a few desks behind her. He got up prospectively and their eyes met. Grimmjow was unaware of the anxiety she was feeling towards him so he spoke to her as he normally did.  
  
"Is this normal for them to do to students? It's Friday evening, I doubt anyone wants to be here doing this."  
  
He walked toward her and she laughed, "Yes...and yes!" She chirped. "This is normal but no one really likes it very much." She held her finger up, "Though I'm sure most people would be more upset towards having to be in a filthy classroom vs cleaning one every now and then."  
  
"Yeah…" Grimmjow said in a way that made it sound like he agreed but was bothered by the work. He didn't like cleaning which was true, but he didn't mind this alone-time with Orihime. Actually, it was exactly what he needed.  
  
So the two of them cleaned the room. Grimmjow swept the classroom while Orihime cleaned the board and organized the books and chairs. Once he was done sweeping he began to mop.  
  
The room was filled with the sound of cleaning but not enough talking. So Grimmjow started a small conversation about his frustrations to ease the silence between them.  
  
"I'll tell you what, your friend Kiego is an alright guy but he is probably one of the most annoying people I've ever met."  
  
Orihime covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing. Her reaction made it seemed like she agreed.  
  
"Like seriously, this guy is hyper as hell and up in my face everytime he tries talking to me. Where I come from you'd get punched if you acted like he did." At this point he was ranting in annoyance to how this guy acted in the hallway when he asked him about his thoughts on Orihime. As soon as Grimmjow answered this guy would NOT leave him alone.  
  
But this got Orihime curious, "So where do you come from?" She asked, as she tied up one of the trash bags.  
  
Grimmjow stopped mopping and realized what he had said. In a state of panic he blurted out, "France." But regretted it instantly because he knew nothing about France.  
  
As a result, he was bombarded with curious question after question from the copper haired girl. Her eyes lit up with everything he had to say, though she was unaware of the fact that he barely getting by with his answers as he made them up on spot.  
  
Orihime began walking towards him eagerly as she was about to ask another question but completely forgot the floor was wet.  
  
She was mid-sentence before she produced one of the most elaborate dances Grimmjow had ever seen in order to keep her balance, until she ultimately met the floor. She fell flat on her butt and her skirt had flown up as she made her descent towards the ground.  
  
Thankfully Orihime was unaware of this as she was focused too much on the pain. But Grimmjow caught it and he bit down on the bottom of his lip when he caught a glimpse of her delicate white panties before rushing over to her, helping her stand back up.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
She felt his strong arms pull her up to his feet and Grimmjow was surprised by how much heavier she felt vs how small she looked in comparison to him. Well, she was curvy so he wasn't that surprised.  
  
"Owieeeee." She groaned as she used her other free hand to rub her behind. In the process of falling, the trash bag she was carrying broke and some of the garbage spread across the clean floor.  
  
She sighed. "I'm okay but look at the mess I made...I'll have to go to the closet down the hall to get another bag to clean this up-"  
  
Just then one of the lights above them began to flicker, causing both of them to look up, before ultimately shutting off.  
  
"-and a spare light while I'm at it…." She added.  
  
Grimmjow picked up the trash bag that was on the floor and began cleaning it up. "You go get the light and bag, I'll clean this up." He smiled reassuringly.  
  
Orihime smiled back and went on her way to the utility closet outside the classroom. On her way she felt a bit silly how much she was nervous around him just because of that one question he asked earlier. He was a nice guy and she was really worried about nothing.  
  
Once she reached the closet she pulled out one of those long industrial LED lights, it was about 5 feet long and she held it against her shoulder with one hand, and the trash bags with the other. It was surprisingly light despite being almost as tall as her. She was careful not to knock into the doorway on her way back to the room.  
  
When she re-entered Grimmjow had just finished cleaning the trash and gestured her to come towards him with the light.  
  
"I'll take the trash out to the dumpster when we're through here so don't worry about them."  
  
She handed him the light and he signaled to her to put the new bag she brought into the garbage can. She had just replaced it with a new one earlier but after breaking the other bag, Grimmjow had to use the one in the can to clean it up again.  
  
Orihime walked over to the other side of the room as Grimmjow leaned one of his hands onto the desk, with the light in his other, before pushing himself on top of it in a crouching position. He was careful as he stood all the way up in order not to lose his balance.  
  
She watched him as he carefully removed the plastic protector from the lights and set it on the desk next to him. He wore a short sleeved white uniform shirt that pulled up and revealed part of his stomach when he lifted his arms. He was very muscular and his biceps were bulging in his shirt as he began twisting out the old light with remaining with his remaining free hand.  
  
Although, Orihime wasn't paying attention to his muscles or anything, she was paying attention to his face of annoyance as he realized he probably needed two hands to screw out the light. He furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance as he tried to pull the light out of it's place. It seemed to be stuck. He tried to adjust himself but lost his footing-  
  
"Watch out!"  
  
The light had been pulled from its stuck position in the ceiling as he descended toward the ground, and as if on instinct, he clenched down on both lights in his hands and they shattered. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as he began to fall backwards. By the way he was falling his back would have landed on the metal bar on one of the seats next to him, which if he had fallen in a certain angle he very well might have broken his back  
  
But that didn't happen, in fact he never made it to the ground, or the desk, or anything. It was as if he was being levitated, and once he realized this he looked up at Orihime.  
  
She had dropped what she was doing and had ran in his direction with her arm outstretched toward him as he began to fall, she called out and then a bright orange light rushed from her hairpins and grabbed hold of Grimmjow with many tiny tiny golden little shards in the shape of triangles underneath him. It held him up as if gravity didn't exist. The shattered pieces of glass in his hand had caused him to begin bleeding.  
  
Orihime's outstretched arm moved slightly as if directing the golden light to lower him safely onto the ground, all the while also healing the cuts in his hand.  
  
Grimmjow stared at her as she did this and as he felt her power surround him. It was as if she was unaware what she was doing or what had happened and her instinct kicked in. Her face was concentrated and looked frustrated as she placed him on the ground.  
  
His mouth fell open as he stared at his hand as her power reversed the injury he had just undergone. The glass pieces were disappearing and the cuts were sealing up, as if it had never happened. He stared back at her as she finally came to her senses realizing what she had just done.  
  
She too stared in awe at the injury undoing itself on both of his hands and her eyes widened. Did she just do that? She was sure she did. She saw the light extend as she reached out her arm and called to him. She saw how moving her hand guided the light.  
  
Orihime began to shake nervously in shock as she turned her hand around to look at it, as if in disbelief that her hands had done this. What did she just do?  
  
Grimmjow was a foot few away from her and he shook his head as if in denial. He lunged towards her and pulled her arm towards him and looked at her with a wild expression, "Just what the hell are you?"  
  
There it was, that predatory look that had caused her anxiety earlier this day. It was back, it was worse, and it was staring right at her as if he knew everything about her and it absolutely petrifying.  
  
She pulled away from him defensively and quickly grabbed her bag and darted toward the door. He ran after her but she was quick on her feet.  
  
On her way out she almost slipped again, but her fear was stronger than her clumsiness. She regained her footing instantly as she made it to the door and slid it open ready to dash out.  
  
Instead, she was met with the bewildered face of her best friend Tatsuki which stopped both her and Grimmjow dead in their tracks.  
  
Tatsuki was about to pull the door open when it opened itself her by shaken friend. She was out of breath and her entire face was red and she was sweating. She glanced back at Grimmjow who was a few feet behind her as if he was going after her, who held a similar expression of bewilderment. And the entire room was filled with the sound of heavy breathing from the both of them after what they had just experienced.  
  
"Tatsuki!" Orihime called out. Oh dear god she was so happy to see her best friend. She felt safe and felt like Grimmjow would play it cool as well.  
  
"Orihime…." Tatsuki started questioningly "...did he do anything to you? I heard something like the sound of glass breaking and ran over here as soon as I did…."  
  
Orihime took another heavy breath, "Nope! Nothing happened. I just finished cleaning and Grimmjow was going to take the trash out. We're done for the day!" She said after another exasperated breath.  
  
Tatsuki eyed her friend curiously and then cocked her head to the side to get a better look at Grimmjow, who hadn't said anything up to this point. But by his now empty expression it seemed that he agreed with the words her friend had just said. Or should I say, he didn't have anything to say to argue against it.  
  
"Right…..well why are you both red and sweating…" She crossed her arms, still blocking the doorway. Tatsuki knew something had happened, she knew her best friend too well.  
  
"I made a bet with Grimmjow to see who could finish cleaning first! We rushed around the classroom like crazy. I promised him if he won I would do his laundry for a week! We had an argument about who hated cleaning the most and I proclaimed I did and that I hated it so much I was willing to make a bet that involved cleaning to show how hard I would work to avoid doing anything else!"  
  
She took a single breath before continuing.  
  
"And he thought he could beat me. Which was silly could you believe that? Look at me I'm all done and first to the door. So guess who won the bet!" She began laughing nervously.  
  
For coming up with something on spot that was completely untrue without stuttering, Orihime was quite proud of herself actually. She felt bad about lying to her best friend, but at the moment she did NOT want to discuss what happened and she did NOT want to be anywhere around Grimmjow right now, and she was willing to lie in order to avoid that.  
  
Tatsuki nodded, "Uh huh…." It didn't sound crazy and coming from best friend, in fact it was quite believable.  
  
"And what about you?" She looked back at Grimmjow who had composed himself by now.  
  
"What do you have since you lost the bst?"  
  
Orihime jumped back into Tatsuki's eyeline, "He promised to buy me lunch the rest of the week!"  
  
Grimmjow nodded slowly in response, playing along.  
  
Tatsuki bought it. She blew out a breath of relief as she threw her bag behind her shoulder and held it there with her hand. "Okay that's good. If you had touched her you were about to get the ass whooping of your life."  
  
At that, Grimmjow actually laughed. "I'd love to see you try."  
  
Tatsuki replied snarkly, "There's no reason to, just don't give me a reason." She laughed a bit as well as she moved aside from the doorway.  
  
With the opening, Orihime was ready to run out but Tatsuki grabbed onto her hand and stopped her, causing her auburn haired friend to look back at her quizzically.  
  
"Hey! Don't run off! You've been running out of here to go home everyday this week. We used to walk home together everyday so enough of that. As your best friend I demand some girl time. I'm sleeping over."  
  
Orihime's expression softened. Her friend was absolutely right. This week she had been completely focused on the events that transpired with Ulquiorra, and Tatsuki was completely unaware of all of it. Her friend had a point, she had indeed been ignoring her a bit lately.  
  
Her expression turned into an eager smile. "Of course!" And at that the two girls walked away, to which Orihime was completely grateful over.  
  
"Later Grimmjow." Tatsuki called out.  
  
Orihime turned back slightly to see the blue-haired classmate lift his hand up to signal a wave, and their eyes locked, and she immediately turned back around. She was so thankful Tatsuki showed up when she did, she knew she couldn't outrun Grimmjow and she didn't know what she would do when he caught up to her. She didn't know what she would say. But as soon as her best friend appeared he stopped dead in his tracks and didn't follow them.  
  
During the whole walk back to her house Orihime tried her best to forget what happened in the classroom. She had no idea what she had done and it made her think back to that night when the angels attacked Ulquiorra. It was the same flash of light that appeared and attacked the orange and raven-haired angels. At the time, she thought the power was from Ulquiorra.. but as she recalled he told her he didn't do that….but he failed to mention it was herself that had done it.  
  
So he knew this whole time?  
  
She had never done anything remotely similar to that before in her whole life and it just started happening on instinct and out of her control. If she was being honest with herself, it was actually horrifying. That attack towards the angels were meant to harm, what if she accidentally did it to someone she cared about? Why was this happening to her?  
  
"Dude-you need to stop zoning out." Tatsuki waved her hand in front of Orihime's face, which snapped her back to reality.  
  
So much for trying not to think about it.  
  
"Sorry! And I'm sorry I've been out of it this week!"  
  
"It's no problem," Tatsuki reaffirmed, "But if you need to talk about anything let me know. Since that night you were at my house, you've acting a little odd….atleast more so than usual."  
  
And her friend was completely right. It was about a week since that night she met Ulquiorra and it was since then she had been running out of school everyday to try meeting him, and now had the pleasure of seeing him at home. But still, those walk homes with Tatsuki had been ignored and she felt bad about it. Though, she felt a bit worse she didn't tell her what was going on. In fact, she just didn't know how.  
  
They walked down one of the busier streets full of citizens rushing by. There were less people than usual though due to the fact that the two girls left school a little bit later that day. Orihime was lost in her thoughts and didn't pay much attention to the people that passed by her. But all of a sudden she felt her heart jump in her chest rapidly as she sensed someone approaching her a couple of yards ahead. There were many other people around her but it was the aura of this very peculiar man that caught her attention. His eyes seemed to be closed but she could sense that he was staring directly at her. Time seemed to slow down around her as he got closer and closer. She could literally see all the others going at a slower pace as if it was due to this man's presence. As if she was being affected by this slowed down sense of time her heart began to throb very slowly, in heavy, painful beats.  
  
He was dressed in a black suit with a long beige trenchcoat. Not uncommon for a business man in her city and he had silver shimmering hair. But is was his aura. It was so heavy and so suffocating that it felt like a snake was choking her. It was nothing compared to Ulquiorra and this absolutely petrified her.  
  
The man was just a few feet ahead of her and Orihime found herself unable to move anymore. She was completely frozen, so too were the once busy people rushing past her. But the man continued to walk, with a gleaming smile as if he was aware of his effect on the people around him. As he walked by her she felt one final throb of her heart pound in her chest until she finally broke lose from this trance and time continued to resume. Tatsuki continued speaking as if a second had not passed and everything began moving as normal.  
  
Orihime turned around to look at the man again but he was nowhere in sight. The entire experience was otherworldly and she didn't know how much more her heart could take in one day. A part of her felt like she had done something wrong, and she was guilty after her "powers" revealed herself to her today and she was going to be in trouble for it. And after seeing this mysterious man who had this effect on her, her anxiety just increased.  
  
For now though, she didn't want to think about it. Too much was on her mind and if she kept going it was going to ruin her mood and the little bit of happiness and time she was able to spend with her friend.  
  
By the time they reached her house Orihime realized a problem.  
  
Ulquiorra!  
  
Orihime stopped walking abruptly but Tatsuki was still headed for the door!  
  
She did the first thing she could come up with and tried her best to mimic the sound of a sneeze and threw her school bag over the fence of her neighbors.  
  
"Tatsuki wait!"  
  
As her raven haired friend turned around she caught a glimpse of a schoolbag falling behind the fence and Orihime's exasperated face.  
  
"I sneezed and flung my school bag on accident! Can you please help me? I can't jump over the fence and you're very flexible!"  
  
Tatsuki broke out laughing as she halted her walk toward the door and directed herself toward the edge of the fence. As soon as she pulled herself over the other side Orihime ran as fast as she could into the house and found Ulquiorra sleeping on her bed. She grabbed his arms frantically and called his name in an attempt to wake him up.  
  
"Ulquiorra! Ulquiorra! WAKE UP!"  
  
Ulquiorra awoke at the sound of screaming in his ears and to the site of the silver eyed girl. His head twirled as he was awaken from the middle of a deep sleep. He didn't even have a chance to ask what was going on before Orihime managed to pull him off the bed and onto his feet.  
  
She rushed him to her closet and told him to stay there until the coast was clear.  
  
He rubbed his eyes tiredly and asked "Orihime, what are you doing?" He was completely baffled by her frenzied behavior.  
  
Before she could answer the both of them heard someone call out from the entry of the house.  
  
"Orihime are you in here? I got your bag."  
  
Orihime shoved Ulquiora into the closet. "Please just stay here until she leaves okay! I'm sorry!" She whispered, before shutting the closet door in Ulquiorra's face. He blinked as he took in what had just happened.  
  
One moment he was sleeping dreaming of the girl, and the next he woke up to her calling his name, which at first seemed pleasant. But now this just seemed like a bother.  
  
He watched from the lines of the closet door as the human girl reappeared with someone else. The closet door thankfully had many holes so he could partially see them but they couldn't see him.  
  
He was tempted to go back to sleep. If it was night time he could have just left the house but unfortunately there were still a few more hours of sunlight left. He was quite uncomfortable as he was standing squished between the girl's clothes and the closet door, and there was very little room for his wings. He sighed in annoyance. He would have to wait until the other human left the room before he could get comfortable.  
  
It took about 20 minutes before the guest used the restroom and that was when Ulquiorra began shuffling in the closet. He pushed the clothes to the side and the boxes out of the way so he could make a little spot to sit in. As soon as he started moving, Orihime darted her eyes in the direction of the closet nervously. She couldn't see Ulquiorra but he could see her. Just as he found a comfortable spot the bathroom door re-opened and the other human returned.  
  
Ulquiorra had his knees pulled up to his chest and his wings wrapping over his shoulders like a blanket. His arms rested on the tops of his knees and he used that as a cushion for his head. He sat quietly as he listened to the conversation from the girls in the room.  
  
This would be his first time witnessing Orihime interact with another human.  
  
"Alright Orihime I got to give it to you." Tatsuki spoke as she at on the edge of the bed across from her friend.  
  
"I'm not sure if you know or not but that guy Grimmjow apparently has a crush on you. Now this came from Kiego so I didn't think much of it since he has a big mouth but after I saw you two today in the classroom I thought something might have happened between you two."  
  
Orihime began to laugh nervously and held her hands up. This was the first time she was hearing this. People thought he liked her? After what happened today, he scared the living hell out of her.  
  
"I promise you that nothing happened!" She reassured.  
  
Tatsuki pulled a pillow towards her and placed it on her knees as she sat indian style, to give her shoulders something to rest on.  
  
"I know," she replied as she continued to get comfortable. "As soon as something ever happens between you and some guy I'd be the first to know."  
  
Orihime looked away a bit guilty but Tatsuki didn't notice.  
  
"And I better be the first to know since I need to approve of them of course. Now I had thought about you and Grimmjow but as I said, not much of it, since he was new and you guys just met. But I also saw the way he looked at you today so I was just curious is all."  
  
Orihime nodded slowly while hearing this. How Grimmjow had looked at her?  
  
"Wait-what?" She peeped.  
  
"Yeah." Tatsuki proclaimed. "He literally sat with us today at lunch to talk to you and he kept staring at you and only wanted to make conversation with you. I even saw him getting a little close to you. A bit too close for my comfort. And I was a bit suspicious of him, I mean who has blue hair like that? Are you trying to stand out? But anyways that's that."  
  
She rested her chin in palm and looked at Orihime as if she was trying to figure her out. This was something Tatsuki did a lot.  
  
"You know that guy Uryu has a thing for you, and as soon as you found out you began avoiding him and now you two barely talk. Are you gonna do the same with Grimmjow."  
  
Orihime opened her mouth to try forming a sentence in defending herself on the situation with Uryu, but she slowly closed them and formed a pout.  
  
Tatsuki was absolutely right. After Uryu confessed to her and she didn't feel the same way, she was a nervous wreck around him and just began avoiding him all together until eventually their friendship was nothing but an awkward hi and bye. He didn't even sit with them at lunch anymore. Orihime always felt bad about it but she couldn't control how she acted around him.  
  
Why did he have to confess to her to begin with? She was just horrible when it came to these things. And after what happened with Grimmjow today she was sure she was going to avoid him as well. Not because of some crush Kiego claimed was there, but because of what happened that day between them.  
  
Would he tell her friends about this mysterious power she had? Would they be scared of her? Would she ever control it? And was this just some mistake? Her overthinking got the best of her and Tatsuki could tell as she saw many mixed emotions play throughout her eyes before she turned lowered her face with a guilty expression, but not for the reason her friend thought.  
  
"Yeah I thought so, I can read you like a book. Just promise to not be too cruel to him okay?" She sighed, "I actually kinda liked you and Uryu and kind of saw you guys possibly being together. I even secretly supported it. But I feel bad he can't even join us now when we hang out anymore. Ya know? Grimmjow is new but I know you feel guilty about the situation with Uryu so if you can avoid another situation like that for the sake of your own mind I think that's best."  
  
Orihime smiled the sweetest smile upon hearing her friend's support. "Thank you so much Tatsuki."  
  
"Don't ever mention Orihime, seriously. I'm just looking out for you. But if you did ever find someone you were interested in, you know you have my support all the way."  
  
She blushed upon hearing this and her friend noticed this…..  
  
"Orihime…" She started. "Is there anyone out there you've been thinking about?" Tatsuki had an eager expression as she awaited an answer.  
  
But Orihime didn't know how to answer. When she first heard the question her mind went to Ulquiorra. She never really investigated her feelings in regards to him if they were romantic or not. In the beginning it was gratitude and she was curious on who and what he was. Now it felt like she was drawn to him in a way she couldn't explain. It didn't feel like a crush, she couldn't put it into words. But she was excited to see him everyday and ran home just to see him. It pained her to know that angels were after him and what this meant for his future. But despite how she felt, she had no idea what he even felt in regards to her. On top of this she felt unable to tell anyone what had happened, and to her best friend no less.  
  
"Well…." She started. "I have been acting strange since I was last over your house because something happened. As I was walking home these three men cornered me in an alley-way and-"  
  
"WHAT?!" Tatsuki proclaimed, "And I'm just hearing about this now?!" She slammed her fist on the bed. "Did they hurt you? What happened?!"  
  
"I was a bit ashamed to tell you." The shy friend admitted. "But I was okay, someone came just in time and protected me. He stopped them and I've met up with him a couple times this week and that's why I've been running out of school everyday. I'm sorry I didn't tell you! But I was too ashamed of how I met him that I didn't know how to tell you."  
  
By now Orihime was bowing her head in forgiveness to her friend. She felt guilty but also a weight was lifted off her chest. She failed to mention all the details for obvious reasons but someone in her life finally knew SOMETHING relating to Ulquiorra and the moments she spent with him suddenly felt a lot more real as she spoke about it with another person. She eventually looked back up to her friend after she didn't hear a response to her confession and she was met with Tatsuki's huge grin from ear to ear.  
  
"OOOOOOOO Yes. I already like him. He beat up those bad guys? Yes I already approve. So are you guys together now or what? When can I meet him?" She questioned.  
  
Ulquiorra had been listening to all of this and hearing the human girl explain her interaction with him in such a way with her friend made him rethink that night and apart of him felt something unpleasant toward it. He originally intended to consume her soul but he ran off after he realized who she was. And to her, he was a mysterious creature that had saved her and to whom she was thankful to. It left a bad taste in his mouth but left him feeling something light as she talked about it amidst a conversation relating to the different men in Orihimes life.  
  
What exactly did he mean to her?  
  
Back to the conversation, Orihime waved her hands in front her and exclaimed, "No! That's not it! We're not together or anything! We're just friends. And I'm not sure how you'd meet him since he can't come out during the day…."  
  
She had slipped that detail out…..whoops.  
  
"Wait what?" Tatsuki asked.  
  
"Oh!" Orihime realized what she had just said and pulled from her limited skill in making up things on spot.  
  
She blurted out, "He works all day so he's only free at night. That's why I go home immediately so I can sleep a little bit before going to see him so I don't feel tired." She rubbed the back of her neck nervously, hoping that explanation on spot would suffice, and it did.  
  
"Ahh I see" Tatsuki nodded, "That makes sense I guess. But you don't feel anything towards him? I mean you brought him up after I asked if you had been eyeing someone….so…."  
  
Orihime shifted uncomfortably as she tried to figure out how to answer. She didn't really know how. It wasn't a crush….it was something different.  
  
Tatsuki could see how Orihime was unsure in herself so she stopped pushing. She knew pushing her when it came to these things wasn't the best. It was better for her unique friend to figure things out on her own when the time was right.  
  
"Alright." Tatsuki interjected. She held her hands up in defeat and gave a light hearted laugh. "You don't know and that's fine. Just make sure you tell me if anything ever happens to you again like that night, okay? Seriously Orihime out of everything I'm more upset you didn't tell me about those men that attacked you instead of some guy you're unsure where you stand in regards to your feelings."  
  
Orihime pulled Tatsuki into a huge hug. She really appreciated her best friends support so much. She felt guilty she couldn't tell her everything, but she would figure out a way when things made more sense.  
  
"Thank you so much Tatsuki! I love you!"  
  
Tatsuki laughed and patted her friends back, "Yeah you know I love you too."  
  
The rest of the evening was spent with the girls talking of other trivial things before ultimately getting ready for bed. Whenever they slept over each other's houses they slept in the same bed, which meant Ulquiorra was still stuck in the closet.

* * *

  
  
Orihime made sure to stay awake as long as she could before she was sure her friend was asleep before she crept stealthily out of bed and toward her closet. She was wearing short pink sleeping pants and a gray tanktop with no bra on.  
  
When she opened the door she found Ulquorra wide awake staring deadpanned at her. She could barely see anything other than his glowing eyes but she could make out that he was sitting crouched down in her closet. On the other hand Ulquiorra could see the room and everything as clear as day.  
  
"You can come out now." She whispered.  
  
Ulquiorra stood up gracefully without producing a single sound and made his way toward her window. He tried to open as quietly as possible but was having trouble. Orihime stood next to him and asked him where he was going.  
  
"I'm going on the roof." He responded. "My wings ache from being in there all day and I need to stretch them." But he still had trouble opening this blasted window.  
  
Orihime reached over and opened it for him. "Sorry." She muttered. "I didn't know she was coming, it was last minute and I barely had enough time to stall her."  
  
"It's fine Orihime." He interjected. "This is your house." By now he was crouched on the window-sill ready to make his way towards the roof.  
  
In the moonlight Orihime could see him clearly and she couldn't help but stare at him.  
  
"Oh wait!" Her words caused him to pause for a brief moment. "Let me go up the stairs to get to the roof as well. There something I need to talk to you about."  
  
"There is no need for that."  
  
Before she could question him he reached out towards her and pulled her into his chest and wrapped his arms around the girl so fast, and then leaned backward in order to fall out the window. He felt her grab onto him for dear life.  
  
Just as soon as they began to fall though, he flapped his wings and Orihime felt a gush of wind around her as he held her strongly against him. And just like that they were now sitting on the roof together. Although, due to the way he had grabbed her originally and the way he had landed, they were sitting in a rather different position.  
  
Ulquiorra sat on the edge of a roof top and leaned against a wall behind him. His legs and tail dangled off but he had plenty of space to sit behind him without falling. In between his legs set Orihime, and her legs wrapped around on either side of him. She was still holding onto him and it wasn't until she realized they had landed that she slowly pulled away. But Ulquiorra's arms were still around her.  
  
They were so close and despite the very intimate way of sitting, none of them said anything about it.  
  
Instead, Orihime looked up at him and stared at his beautiful eyes that seemed to shimmer with more life than usual with the moonlight falling down on him. She had to admit he was very beautiful to look at. His strong arms holding her and in them she felt safe. They were so close that even with some distance between their torsos, her chest was still brushed up against his. Orihime didn't seem to notice this but Ulquiorra did.  
  
There was something about seeing her under the moonlight like this, it reminded him of that night a few days ago where the angels attacked him and he carried the human girl back to her house. She was just as beautiful as then. And seeing her glow with life even in the middle of the night was alluring.  
  
"Are you comfortable?" Ulquiorra asked, his arms still wrapped around her. He had just realized the position they were sitting it. It wasn't until he said anything did Orihime notice as well. She realized how she placed against him and that he was in between her legs and her butt was pressing against his crotch and her face turned red instantly.  
  
Ulquiorra watched as the embarrassment washed over her face when she realized how he was holding her and he thought it was entrancing.  
  
Any other day, Orihime might have felt a bit too embarrased for comfort but for some reason she felt safe in Ulquiorra's arms. After today she wanted nothing other than to hug him and feel him holding her just like this for a little while longer. She leaned her head against his chest and mumbled "It's cold out tonight…..I'm warm like this so I'm comfortable just right here."  
  
Seeing her move even closer to him in his arms stirred something inside Ulquiorra and he was amazed at how comfortable she was around him after such a short amount of time, but he didn't dislike it. He held her close like that for a while as she leaned into his chest just like that. He could feel her breath against his skin and he could hear the sound of her heartbeat.  
  
Simply touching her like this was enough as always to cause that oh so familiar pleasure to return and he sighed in content as it rushed through his body. He pulled her even closer to him and Orihime noticed this.  
  
She had realized that Ulquiorra was probably listening to her conversation today about him. Knowing he was listening made her even more nervous about telling Tatsuki anything. She was unaware how she felt truly about him. But after that conversation with her best friend, and then feeling herself in his arms like this, she realized in Ulquiorra's presence she felt like she was home, like she belonged here. After everything that happened today, it was only right now in his arms like this that she felt calm.  
  
Orihime pulled slightly away and looked up at him, in turn he looked down to meet her eyes.  
  
"Ulquiorra I have a question."  
  
He didn't have a heart but if he did he was sure if would have been pounding.  
  
"What is it Orihime?"  
  
She sighed before asking, "Was I the one that attacked those angels that night? Was that my power?"  
  
Ulquiorra paused a moment before answering.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I see…." she responded. "Something...happened today. A classmate at school was hurt and a similar power came out of me and it protected him. And I was so scared by this had no idea what was happening."  
  
Ulquiorra could see the uncertainty and fear in her eyes.  
  
"It happened all by itself too. Like I wasn't even controlling it, it just happened. And if I'm right I'm sure that's what happened that night with the angels. I'm just so scared I don't know what's happening to me, what if I accidentally hurt someone?"  
  
Ulquiorra stopped her right there. "Orihime I have known you for a very short amount of time and even in that short span I can tell you that you will never use any part of your being to hurt someone unintentionally."  
  
Hearing him speak of her in such a way made the human girl feel light.  
  
"But what is happening to me?" She pressed onwards. "Is this because I'm with you all the time? Is this because I met those angels? I never had this type of power or anything remotely similar happen before…."  
  
"I do not have all the answers you are looking for Orihime." Ulquiorra started, "But from what I do know is that those angels and other demons might be looking for you because you have those powers. As soon as I saw what you did that night and what force was held within you, that was when I decided I would stay near you for the time being. I cannot be with you during the day when the sun is out, but atleast during this time period I know you are safe." His grip on her tightened reassuringly.  
  
Just when had things changed like this between them? Neither of them were really sure.  
  
Hearing that other entities existed and might be after her scared her and Ulquiorra noted this.  
  
"But if it's any consolation, no other beings have appeared since that night. I have been on alert and there has been nothing."  
  
Although these words were used to reassure Orihime, and they did, they actually left Ulquiorra uneasy. There SHOULD be something out there. After heaven got a hold of this something should be happening, but nothing was. It was too quiet and that alone kept Ulquiorra on edge.  
  
"I do not have an explanation for what is happening to you, but I will protect you at all costs, Orihime." He stared in her eyes as he confessed this to her, and for the first time Orihime felt butterflies flutter in her stomach.  
  
She knew very little about this creature but she felt safe by his words.  
  
"Thank you Ulquiorra."  
  
She pouted her lips as another question formed in her mind. "Ulquiorra you are a demon right, aren't they supposed to….ya know." She tried explaining, "...be bad? And the angels are supposed to be good? I know you've done things before but you have been nothing but kind to me, and now there's a chance these angels are after me? I didn't even know angels and demons really existed a week ago. It's just all so much."  
  
"There is a war all around us," Ulquiorra started, "For as long as I could remember there was a war between Heaven and Hell, and there are different types of people on both sides. You might view me in a better light than others might, but that doesn't change the fact that I am what I am."  
  
He wasn't going to lie or sugarcoat to her about what he was. He was a demon, no more, no less.  
  
"But ulquiorra, if I'm correct you hadn't eaten a soul since you've been here right?" Orihime looked at him curiously. She felt odd asking about such a gruesome thing, about eating people's spirits...and she hoped the answer he gave would be-  
  
"No." Ulquiorra answered simply. "I have not."  
  
A look of reassurance swept across Orihime's face.  
  
"But, that does not mean anything. I have become very weak and I know if I do not consume some form of substance for energy, I will eventually lose all my strength and disappear."  
  
Orihime did not like EITHER of those things. And now that she mentioned it she could see how he looked a bit more rugged than before. He had bags under his eyes and he did in fact appear weaker compared to the night they first met.  
  
"I don't want you eating anymore humans..." She answered honestly. "But I don't want you to disappear either."  
  
Ulquiorra pressed his lips together thinly. Well he didn't want to do something she disliked but he would die as a result. So he was unsure of what to do. He managed to get by this long by the smell of her soul alone but even now, it continued to tempt him. She was a pure soul after all and he was famished.  
  
"What if…." Orihime started, "What if you ate PART of a soul. Would that help you?"  
  
Ulquiorra thought about it. "It might but barely. Imagine taking one bite of your meal and that was all you could have."  
  
Orihime understood. "Okay but what if-" She readjusted her sitting position so her back was straight and she could look into Ulquiorra's face better.  
  
"What if I let you have part of mine?"  
  
Ulquiorra usually didn't have expressions to show, but his eyes widened in shock. Had he just heard her correctly?  
  
"I don't think s-"  
  
"Just hear me out." She interrupted. " I don't know much about these powers I think I have, but from what I saw today, I was able to reject or undo whatever happens. Even if you take a little bit I should be able to recover just fine, right? Plus I don't really think I'm all that special but I think if I AM different and I do have some type of power, that just a piece of my soul would be enough right? It wouldn't be like eating just one bite like you said...right?"  
  
She was absolutely right. Just consuming one whole pure soul would leave a demon satisfies for months. Just taking a bite would be enough to last a bit of time….but he wouldn't do that.  
  
"While that may be true Orihime, I highly advise against it."  
  
"How come?" She furthered.  
  
Ulquiorra sighed, agitated, he really didn't want to have to put it into words. "At the end of the day I am a demon and I consume souls. There's a possibility I might not be able to stop myself."  
  
He paused and admitted something he was very ashamed of. "From the moment I met you I had to use all of my restraint from eating you on spot."  
  
Orihime bit down on the bottom of her lip as she took this in. Ulquiorra watched her lips curiously….  
  
She did NOT know that. So all the time he had spent at her house he tried to stop himself? Maybe that's why he was so withdrawn a mere for dews ago compared to now. I mean he was holding her in his arms for crying out loud. But even after knowing this, Orihime wasn't afraid. Maybe she was being naive, but she didn't really believe the demon could ever hurt her.  
  
"Even now…" he began, as he closed his eyes and leaned in closer to the side of her face and breathed in her scent, "I am having trouble controlling myself."  
  
Orihime squeezed her eyes shut as she felt his breath against her neck and ears.  
  
"Ulquiorra please…" She whispered. "I'd rather you have a small piece of my soul if it meant you don't have to eat another person. I mean it."  
  
She pulled her face away from him and looked into his eyes. "I trust you."  
  
Ulquiorra knew he needed to say no, but it was so to keep refusing what he knew he wanted deep down. She was literally pleading for him to eat her. He was losing his self control the more she told him it was okay.  
  
With one of his hands that was holding her, he brought it it to the side of her face and gently moved her hair out of the way, revealing her bare neck. She shivered at his touch.  
  
"Are you sure, Orihime?"  
  
This was the last time he was going to ask.  
  
Orihime felt his hand by her neck and she could feel her heart nearly lunging out of her chest.  
  
"Yes, please Ulquiorra."  
  
She didn't have to say another word. In a moment his lips found her neck and his arms wrapped even tighter around her, pulling her towards him. As soon as she felt his warm lips press against her she emitted a noise Ulquiorra had only ever heard in one of his "dreams."  
  
He suckled on her skin and felt her squirm beneath him against his touch. And soon he took in a whiff of her pure soul and breathed it in as it's energy rushed through his body. He remembered all the experiences he had heard of demons eating pure souls and how it felt, but none of their stories could ever suffice to the real thing, not like this.  
  
He wanted more, but it was so hard to stop when he felt Orihime pressed her chest against him, as if wanting more of his touch.  
  
He almost lost him mind when he heard her entangle the words "Ulquiorra-" while moaning.  
  
The demon knew he was at a breaking point that if he went passed he wouldn't be able to control himself anymore, and he had to stop there. He bit down on her neck as he forcibly stopped anymore of her soul from entering him. As he bit down, Orihime threw her head back and winced in pain and clawed onto his back instinctively.  
  
Their bodies were flushed against each other and she was panting against him. With every breath Ulquiorra felt her chest push against his and as a result, he pulled her down harder against his crotch.  
  
He held her tightly there until both of them regained their breath. It took everything in Ulquiorra to stop when he did, but he felt different. He wasn't starving and on the verge of passing out. He felt rejuvenated. After centuries of consuming filthy souls, it was a whole other experience to have what he just had.  
  
A pure one. Even if it was just a taste.  
  
He finally pulled away and looked at Orihime's face. She looked completely out of it, her vision was foggy and she had trouble keeping her head up. But when Ulquiorra eyes met her she tried her best to focus on his as well. He looked way better now and she wondered if it had worked. But then she noticed something really weird.  
  
Although her vision was blurry she could have sworn that she saw the distinct tear marks on his cheeks appear to fade away. She didn't have enough strength to say anything, or even keep her eyes opened. For shortly afterward she collapsed against her beloved demon.  
  
Ulquiorra felt her muscles relax against him as her cheek landed on his shoulder. She was simply asleep and he had a hunch that would happen.  
  
When humans yawn, a small part of their soul escapes momentarily and that's why they feel so sleepy as a result. This had a similar effect on Orihime too. With the amount of soul he consumed he knew it was just enough to send her to sleep.  
  
He sat there on the edge of the roof with Orihime in his arms for many hours that night. Taking advantage of this opportunity to feel her completely against him before the sun would soon rise.


	13. Colliding Worlds

It was many years ago on the first day Aizen found himself in soul society. He had awoken from what felt like a deep slumber in a field of grass. He was dressed in a commoner’s kimono and he had little memory on who he was or how he got there. Although this man had very little memory of who he was, there was one thing that resonated in his mind.   
  
Anger.  
  
For some reason, this entity called the Soul King was the cause of all despair in his mind. And he knew that there was a creature he must find in order to defeat this king.   
  
Aizen sat up and looked around and saw a village in the distance. He began to walk towards the village, each stride he took becoming more certain than the previous. He didn’t know how but he knew it was his destiny to find this creature. Although he had no facts to prove this idea, it was something Aizen felt deep down as if another part of him knew that this was the truth. It was as if it was essential to his being for him to do this.   
  
And with that passion and anger he embarked on his journey. He enrolled into the soul academy where he trained to become a shinigami. Although he was unaware of his past and whom he really was, his soul was still the same. So it was no surprise that he quickly went up the ranks as one of the most powerful captains in all of  soul society.  
  
While he was still a student in the academy though, he met a young boy in the forest during his training. He was dressed in a plain white kimono and had silver white hair to match. For some reason he felt connected to this child and asked what he was doing here all alone.  
  
The boy just smiled and that was when Aizen noticed the red blood stains at the bottom of the child’s clothing and the dead bodies of grown men in the distance. His eyes widened, but before he could say anything, the child began to speak.  
  
“Those men are horrible. They rape the women of my village and steal from our families. The soul society of this world do nothing towards beings like this. They only go after the hollows. And do you know what they do to hollows?” The child questioned.  
  
Aizen was silent.  
  
“They save them. They cleanse their soul and they receive redemption in another world. But what about these men? They live their lives freely and then die or become hollows and wreak more havoc. Just when will they suffer?”  
  
The student took all of this in and a smile graced his lips. This was something Aizen had always felt. There was no punishment for those that did wrong. And that was what was wrong with the Soul King. Those who do good are overlooked, and those who do wrong get away with it.  
  
The way the Soul King ran this world was flawed.   
  
Aizen spoke to the child about this and connected with him on a level that he felt he understood. He spoke of the soul king and all that he believed was wrong with this world. He explained that this world needed a place for those that have done wrong to suffer. He told the child that if he followed him, they could get rid of such a ridiculous being and create a better world. One where men like those that attacked his village would be punished.  
  
And just like that was how Gin deceived Aizen with the fake memories and the words he knew the fallen angel would agree with. This was how the true origin of all of Aizen’s suffering became his right hand man.   
  
Many years had passed before Aizen met a man by the name of Urahara. He had learned of a mysterious item the scientist was working on that dissolved the barrier between hollow and shinigamis, resulting in the creation of a powerful being. This allured Aizen as he felt it was exactly what he needed to overthrow the soul king.  
  
Aizen eventually deceived Urahara and took the hougyokou for himself. He proceeded to experiment on his fellow shinigami in order to produce the being he believed he was in search of. He showed this to Gin and explained this was the item he was looking for, that soon a creature would be made in order to overthrow the soul king.  
  
Gin saw the effects of the hougyokou and the intense power it held, but deep down he was disappointed. It was not the real item he was looking for. Although he felt disgusted that he was playing a hand in Aizen’s evil acts, he also knew he could not interfere too much.   
  
Gin was only here to follow and watch Aizen. But after seeing the beings of despair that this item was creating, the Creator thought maybe the fallen-angel was onto something.  
  
If this item produced such fearful creatures, maybe he would find Ulquiorra?  
  
As Aizen’s scheme began to unfold, Gin found it a bit of a bother but had to continue playing along.   
  
Nothing Aizen was doing was really making a difference as there was no soul king and Gin was getting tired of keeping up this facade. He began to lose hope that Ulquiorra and the light shard were in this universe at all but he couldn’t just leave Aizen.   
  
One arrancar after another that was made, Gin’s hope continued to plummet. None of these beings, no matter how powerful, held any similar energy that Ulquiorra had. It was starting to feel like a waste of time.   
  
But even so he pressed onward, because he wouldn’t stop until he found what he was looking for. During one of their trips to Hueco Mundo where Aizen had began finding extremely powerful vasto lordes was when things finally began to look up for Gin.  
  
There were rumors in the desert land that an overly powerful vasto lordes took refuge in a thick forest. Most hollows that tried to come near would suffocate from the very thick and depressing riatsu that surrounded it.   
  
As soon as Gin heard of this he played around his words carefully when speaking to Aizen. He needed to ensure he would be the only one sent to find and bring this creature in case it was Ulquiorra.  
  
Aizen complied with Gin’s request to fetch the creature in order to recruit it to their army.  
  
The Creator travelled across this wasted land with finally some hope to hold on to. That after centuries maybe he had found what he was looking for.   
  
Gin eventually found what he believed was the location. It was a thick white forest that emitted a deep and heavy riatsu that he recalled hearing about. As he approached he saw a monstrous creature submerged within the thick of it.   
  
The creator took in this depressing sight. This creature was being stabbed by the branches of the trees and chose not to move, he just allowed them to pierce through him. Although he was covered in a white material covering most of his body, Gin knew this was whom he was looking for.  
  
As Gin approached cautiously he breathed a sigh of relief. Although the creature’s face was completely covered, Gin recognized those tear marks and that energy anywhere.  
  
He ducked his head as he crouched down under the branches and approached the creature.  
  
“Ulquiorra.” He spoke calmly, seeing if it would stir a reaction from the hollow that appeared to be sleeping.  
  
Instantly, the white vasto’s eyes opened and glanced up at the man who was advancing closer. But he didn’t spare him another glance. Instead, he closed his eyes and ignored him.  
  
Gin chuckled at his response. Although it was no laughing matter. He knew what Ulquiorra was doing. It was obvious from everything he knew about him. This creature held so much dark energy, such painful riatsu, that he was filling himself with void just in order to cope with his existence.  
  
“Do you know who I am?” Gin asked as he sat down next to the creature.  
  
Ulquiorra’s eyes opened again, but he didn’t speak. He just looked at the man.  
  
“Do you remember me at all?”  
  
Their eyes met again but Ulquiorra did not answer. Gin looked deeply into this creature’s eyes in search of anything, any piece of spirit, but he was met with nothing. Despite how deep and green his eyes were, they harbored no memory or spirit.  
  
“I suppose you do not.” Gin sighed.   
  
“I know why you’re here, Ulquiorra. This right here…” he waved his hands to the tree branches surrounding them, “...this is the only thing that makes sense to you.”  
  
The creature continued to stare at the man but did not answer. It occurred to Gin that maybe he could not answer because of the mask covering his face and mouth. Gin furrowed his eyebrows as he considered this.  
  
He then glanced around and picked up a branch he found next to him.  
  
“Maybe this will work.” Gin spoke as he examined it, before turning his attention back to Ulquiorra.   
  
He leaned in closer to the white vasto laying on the floor.  
  
“Now…” Gin spoke, “This might hurt but I doubt as much as the rest of the branches that are already piercing through you. But I need you to consent before coming with me.”  
  
Ulquiorra’s eyes never broke away from the man even as the branch neared his face and not even when it began to break apart his mask away, revealing his full face for the first time. Though, his eyes did widen when he felt the touch of the man pulling the remaining pieces from his face.  
  
“Now.” Gin spoke, “There should be nothing hindering you from speaking. Say something.”  
  
Ulquiorra furrowed his eyebrows and reached his arm over, resulting in part of the white branches that were attached to him to break away, and he touched his lips.  
  
He tried to speak but it just came out as a groan.  
  
Gin sighed. Had he completely lost any ability to communicate after being in this void for so long? It would make sense. But the creator didn’t know how to go about this if that was the case.  
  
“How---”  
  
Gin looked back at the creature with wide eyes.  
  
“H-how do you know my name?”  
  
The creator sighed internally at the sound of that. Not only could he speak but he also remembered the same name he had once given when Gin first found Ulquiorra.  
  
“I know everything about you. I know why you’re here and I know what you’re looking for.”  
  
Ulquiorra sat up slowly and pulled away from the rest of the branches that had his abdomen pinned down. They all shattered with every move that he made.  
  
“I do not seek anything.” He responded.  
  
Gin smirked at this. The fact that Ulquiorra would even pull away from the void momentarily to say this just speaks volumes to what the truth really was.   
  
The creator eventually convinced the creature to come with him. He promised that if he came with him back to Las Noches he would find something worth living for.   
  
At first Ulquiorra believed his meaning was to follow Aizen’s orders and this was what Gin might have meant. Although that was not Gin’s intention, the vasto lordes embraced it as he had nothing else.  
  
For the creator on the other hand, it was just a waiting game now. He found Ulquiorra and had him in a spot he could keep his eye on him.  The hougyokou did succeed in allowing Ulquiorra to become an arrancar. So the plan was atleast going somewhere. But he was still distraught over the fact that the light shards did not appear, but knew that because Ulquiorra was here, the light would appear as well.  
  
But Aizen had a different plan. Although his memories were very limited, the one thing he remembered was that he was in search of a dark entity that would allow him to use to overthrow soul society. So for the longest time he played his finger around a boy by the name of Ichigo Kurosaki whom Aizen thought was the entity he was looking for.   
  
Although Gin knew that was not the case, no matter how strong or unique this boy was, the creator let Aizen be. The farther Aizen went away from the truth, the better.  
  
Because Gin could not always be with Ulquiorra he even had a conversation with him mentioning the golden light and if he was ever confronted with it to let Gin know. Though, the arrancar had no idea what this meant.  
  
It wasn’t until the rest of Aizens plan began to go into motion in Soul Society did Gin find what he was looking for. He saw the way that human woman used this mysterious power to aid her friends. He knew as soon as he saw it that this is what he was looking for. But he also knew the time or situation was not right for her to meet Ulquiorra yet.  
  
Although the dark entity Aizen found, Ichigo Kurosaki,  was not the true one, his soul was still dark enough to reveal the pure soul’s powers. Aizen was wrong, but he had ended kind of in the right direction even if he was completely unaware of it. But as long as Gin knew, that’s all that mattered.  
  
He knew Orihime was whom he was looking for. But because she met Kurosaki her powers were able to be released. Although because Kurosaki was not the true entity, the true extent of her powers were still sealed away. Even so, this just helped Gin in locating the shard’s power faster, so no real harm done.  
  
It wasn’t until later time progressed did Gin find a perfect opportunity to send Ulquiorra to the human world where he would first come in contact with Orihime. Although the universe would naturally pull them together, there was no harm in Gin pulling the strings for the inevitable to progress just a bit faster.  
  
Gin was actually excited and nervous about how this was going to play about. He had no idea how it would work as he didn’t expect the light shard cosmic dust to be reborn as a human girl in a distant universe far off from where they originated. But they did. So how was she supposed to save Ulquiorra? How would the human part of her react to a creature such as himself?  
  
The creator had so many questions but he just had to wait.  
  
It wasn’t until Ulquiorra saw this girl’s powers did he remember what Gin had told him a while ago. He mentioned that if he were to ever find the source of this golden light that it would benefit Aizen greatly and he should report it immediately.  
  
When he saw this human girl use this power to attack Yami, even unsuccessfully, Ulquiorra couldn’t shake the thought from his head. Even upon returning to Las Noches and reporting everything he saw to Aizen, something was still on his mind about this woman and the light.  
  
He brought it up with Gin, who was absolutely delighted by this.  
  
“What about it intrigues you??” Gin furthered.  
  
“I want to know why you’re so interested in it.” Ulquiorra answered deadpanned.  
  
Gin smirked. “I said so before, I believe that power is beneficial to Aizen. But don’t take my word for it. Why don’t you go back to the world of the living and feel for yourself?”  
  
And that was exactly what Ulquiorra did. During the night he returned to the same piece of land he had encountered the woman previously and felt the ground that emitted her aura. His brows furrowed as he felt something shaking up his spine. He didn’t understand her power, but there was something about her spirit that filled Ulquiorra with something he couldn’t understand.   
  
Whatever it was, it left a bit of pain emitting from his hollow hole. But he felt like he knew of it before and was drawn to it. So much so that he brought this up with Gin when he had the chance and tried to explain the energy he felt coming from that woman.   
  
Gin suggested bringing it up to Aizen. That not only would this power benefit the Lord but it would also allow Ulquiorra to understand whatever it was that confused him about her.  
  
And that’s exactly what happened. 

* * *

  
  
Later that night Ulquiorra tried his hardest to pull away from the embrace the human woman had on him as she laid against him on the roof. It was getting cold and his wings no longer sufficed for a blanket against the winds.   
  
He slowly stood up with her in his arms, similar to the way he carried her home a couple of nights before. Just as he was about to descend towards her window, Ulquiorra felt a presence behind him and jerked his head in the direction as his grip on Orihime tightened.  
  
The moon lit up the man that had appeared on the roof with them. He was dressed in a fedora, a black suit and a beige coat that flapped in the wind.   
  
Ulquiorra recognized that smile and the silver shimmering hair anywhere.   
  
The devil.  
  
“Hello Ulquiorra. Long time no see.”  
  
The demon was at a lost for words. So many nights he remembered begging to see Gin again. He had so many questions, he was unsure what to do or where he was going or why Gin refused to speak to him out of the blue. Why did he banish him with little information? Why did his fellow demons say Gin said he was an outsider? What was his purpose?  
  
For some reason though, despite all that anger and confusion bottled itself inside Ulquiorra, he didn’t really care anymore. He no longer needed Gin.   
Yes, he still had a lot of questions, but he was no longer depending on Gin’s words.  
  
When the demon didn’t answer, Gin placed his hands in his pockets and bobbed his head in the direction of Orihime, “What have you got there?” he asked.  
  
Ulquiorra really didn’t know how to answer. So he didn’t. But Gin noticed the demon’s hands grip on the girl as he asked.  
  
“Calm down, I’m not going to do anything to her. Or you for that matter. I just have some information for you.”  
  
Ulquiorra furrowed his eyebrows. “What information could you possibly give me if by the looks of it I am of no use or importance to you?”  
  
Gin pressed his lips. “Is that how you feel?”  
  
“Two years of no contact after being banished from my home with barely any information speaks for itself.” Ulquiorra shot back.  
  
The creator sighed.   
  
“Ulquiorra you know better than anyone there’s a war all around us. Things happened last minute and I had to get you out of there. You may not remember it but a long time ago I promised you that if you followed me you will find the meaning you’re looking for.”  
  
“There is nothing I seek.” Ulquiorra responded.. “And I don’t recall you promising me anything.”  
  
Gin laughed at this and the de-ja-vu. “Well Ulquiorra my dear friend, as you know you don’t remember anything but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. On another hand, if you haven’t been seeking anything than what are you doing with that girl?”  
  
Just as he mentioned her, Orihime began to stir slightly in Ulquiorra’s arms, causing him to look down at how she rested against him.  
  
“You were the one that told me to look for a girl. That’s all you told me.” Ulquiorra finally answered after tearing his eyes away from the sight of the beautiful girl in his arms and back to Gin.   
  
The creator rubbed his temple and snarkily replied back. “Right was that all I told you Ulquiorra? I know your memory has failed you before but this is important. I know I couldn’t give you all the information but I gave you everything you needed to know.”  
  
Ulquiorra furrowed his eyebrows. But Gin continued.  
  
“Why, look at you now.” Gin waved his hands towards the girl. “You found what you were supposed to look for, and she actually likes you no less.”  
  
Before Ulquiorra could correct him, Gin quickly jumped back into his train of thought. “And don’t try convincing me otherwise. I saw how you two were cuddling. It was quite adorable.”  
  
Ulquiorra turned away from the man. “I’ve had enough of this.” He was not going to be teased liked this by someone who was meaningless to him now.  
  
“Awww Ulquiorra come on!” Gin quickly re-appeared in front of the demon, stopping him dead in his tracks.   
  
The silver haired man neared his hand toward the human girl to move some of the hair that had fallen in her face, but Ulquiorra defensively stepped back before his fingers could reach the girl.   
  
Gin found all of this very amusing, but at the same time understood why Ulquiorra was acting this way. He had sent him with very little information in a world the demon was unfamiliar with. But now he finally had time to explain things better.  
  
He smirked before bringing his hands to his pockets. Even though he was smiling, his voice was very serious.  
  
“Ulquiorra I won’t bother you and I won’t hurt that girl so don’t fuss.” Gin sighed.  
  
“I’m sure you know by now there is something very special about that girl and you were the only one who could find her. You were the one to bring out that power in her.”   
  
The creator noticed the demon’s puzzled expression but continued explaining as he began to pace around the creature.  
  
“That is why I sent you to find her when I did. If she was in this world as a human girl, that by that time she would have been old enough to learn to control the power she had. But it was ultimately your duty to find her. For some reason in every universe that has existed, this pure soul that continues to appear throughout different points in time are all connected to this girl. I hadn’t realized it before but the pattern became clear. She always appeared as a auburn haired girl with a power that isn’t awakened until met with someone like you.”  
  
Ulquiorra was about to say something but Gin continued, as if talking to himself at one point.   
  
“Though there was that other world where her powers were awakened by another dark entity, so it was no wonder Aizen was so interested in that orange haired boy. He thought that is who he was looking for. But he was wrong. Although that boy deep down had a very dark soul, it wasn’t until she met you did her powers reach an otherworldly level.”  
  
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Ulquiorra finally managed to get out in between the creator’s ramble.  
  
Gin blinked and turned his attention back to the demon. By now he had paced towards the edge of the roof and was staring off into space as he went off about the other universe that Ulquiorra had no memories of. Gin knew this and was aware none of it made sense to the demon, but also knew it was impossible to explain everything.  
  
Ulquiorra would have to just see for himself  
  
“Listen Ulquiorra, you will figure this all out in due time. But I know you’re wary about the angels and where they are. They’re here and they’re waiting for the perfect opportunity to take that girl with them. Now this is an order so listen very carefully, you are to guard Orihime with your life. You are to be sure no harm comes to her. You must be with her at all times and do not let her out of your sight.”  
  
Finally Gin was talking about something Ulquiorra could understand.  
  
“There has been no sign or sense of them.” The demon said in response.  
  
Gin smiled once again. “There is. Trust me.”  
  
“I have very little reason to believe anything you tell me.” Ulquiorra replied snarkily.  
  
“Ulquiorra I am trying to help you so quit being so catty.” Gin waved his hand dismissively. Although he missed his son greatly it was this stubborn attitude he was never fond of.   
  
“Angels cannot take a human's soul without consent. Just one of the rules that even Aizen can’t change. So if you don’t think they’re trying a different approach now then you’re wrong. Why that was the whole reason they were following you to begin with. They were looking for that girl.”  
  
“How could they possibly know I would lead them to this human? It was a mistake I found her to begin with.”  
  
“No.” Gin spoke abruptly. “It was fate.”  
  
Ulquiorra blinked in response to this. It was his fate to meet this human woman? What for? But it didn’t matter, there was a big problem in regards to the previous order Gin gave Ulquiorra just moments before. Although the demon was angry with the creator, he was still bound by his words.  
  
“My capability in protecting this girl is limited when I cannot be near her during the day.”  
  
The smile on Gin’s face probably tripled in size by the sound of that.   
  
“Not for long.”   
  
Ulquiorra shook his head in annoyance. Gin never gave explanations that anyone could follow. It was just as confusing as when he said the girl was supposed to reject something when he first set Ulquiorra on his way.   
  
“What am I supposed to take from that?” Ulquiorra questioned. His voice was monotone but you could sense the annoyance brimming to the top.  
  
“Oh. Nothing from me to be quite frank.” Gin replied. “But look at your arms and you’ll see you have something to gain from her.”  
  
Ulquiorra shot his head down to his hands that held the girl close to him and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head if that was possible. The talons and fur that accompanied his demonic features were no longer present on his hands. Instead he could see white skin. His skin. He could actually feel her warmth in his hands.  
  
The demon looked back up to the creator to ask him what he had meant originally when she was to reject something. But by the time he turned his head, Gin was gone, leaving Ulquiorra standing alone on the roof with the girl in his arms.

* * *

  
  
Orihime found herself in high school on what appeared to be any normal day. An orange haired boy walked in with a sulking look on his face that appeared permanent.   
  
Almost instantly she recognized it to be the angel that attacked her the other day, but instead of running away, she was trapped in her own body that acted on it’s own accord. She skipped happily towards the ginger and greeted him almost as if they were friends.  
  
The Orihime inside could only watch helplessly as this alter version of herself spoke friendly to the boy whom she remembered as an angel that attacked herself and Ulquiorra.  
  
“Morning Orihime.” The boy spoke casually.  
  
“Is Rukia going to be in school today?” She asked.  
  
“Ahh….” he rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah...she just had to stop by Urahara’s on the way here but told me not to tag along. She’ll be here later.”  
  
Right after speaking those words, the raven haired angel who accompanied the ginger one walked into the classroom and greeted the two.  
  
They spoke of soul society, of hollows, and of the weird things happening in Karukura Town with the arrancars after returning home from the spirit world.  
  
The Orihime on the inside took in this interaction between the very same beings she feared, but in a friendly way as if in some other universe or reality they were friends, which perplexed her.   
  
Suddenly, the experience and the environment quickly faded away into another. She found herself in a dark room whose only light source was the moons rays falling through a single window.  
  
Two girls with oddly shaped white things on their faces had entered and began speaking cruel things to Orihime. She looked down and realized the outfit she was wearing was similar to the ones the two girls had on in how it was all white with minimal black trimming.  
  
The dark haired one cornered Orihime, whom still had no control over her body as she was forced to experience whatever this was as if another entity was controlling her. One blow after another the girl began to beat Orihime, but the body in control did not fight back.   
  
Even though the Orihime in mind could feel everything the body did, such as all of the kicks and punches, she could also feel the emotions the body-owner experienced. Fear. Pity. Sadness.   
  
Just then the wall behind them had exploded and through the debris and walked in someone that Orihime recognized.  
  
Grimmjow!  
  
Before Orihime could feel any sense of relief by seeing a familiar face in what appeared to be a nightmare, the blue haired man began to brutally attack one girl after another. All Orihime could do was stare in fear and pain on the floor before he finally approached her.  
  
“Heal your face.” He demanded.  
  
She looked up at him confused but could barely see anything out of one of her badly bruised eyes.   
  
“I’m not dragging around girls with beaten up faces. Fix it now!!” His voice rose with anger.  
  
She felt her hand lift slowly to her face as a glow began to radiate. It was warm and the pain began to melt away.  
  
The Orihime on the inside was shocked by the recognition that this power she was using to heal herself was the very same as the newly founded power she possessed.  
  
With one of his hands in his pockets, Grimmjow grabbed a hold of Orihime’s collar and lifted her into the air. Now staring at eye level, she noticed a similar white mask on his face as well.   
  
“Now a got a little favor to ask ya.” Grimmjow smiled cynically. “You’re coming with me.”  
  
The scene before her had slowly began to fade away and reveal another scenario, but before it could Orihime found herself being thrown back into reality by the feel of someone pushing her arm.  
  
Her eyes shot open to find herself back in her bedroom with Ulquiorra looking down at her with worry in his eyes. He had begun to shake her arm and called for her to wake up.  
  
Although the site of the demon cowering over her would have frightened any other human, it did not scare Orihime. In fact she was relieved to see him and grateful to him for waking her up so she didn’t have to experience any more of what appeared to be a very strange nightmare.   
  
“Orihime, are you well?” He asked, his hand brushed down the length of her arm until it reached her own.  
  
She held onto his as she slowly sat up. With her other hand she rubbed her eyes and yawned.  
  
“Yeah...I’m okay. I just had a strange dream.” The auburn haired girl glanced to her side and realized Tatsuki was no longer in the room.  
  
“Wait, where’s Tatsuki?” She jerked her head trying to find her friend but stopped as soon as Ulquiorra sat down on the edge of the bed.  
  
“Your friend left in the morning after attempting to wake you. She left a note for you on your dresser that said she had an errand to do but requesting you call her later.”  
  
“Ahh…” Orihime nodded as she took in what had happened, but she found it hard to think as Ulquiorra was so close to her and he was still holding her hand.   
  
She glanced down at her small hand in his furry one’s before meeting his eyes once more.  
  
Ulquiorra realized what she was looking at and immediately began to pull away.   
  
The demon hadn’t even realized that he had her hand in his embrace.   
  
“I apologize.”  
  
But before he could fully pull away he felt Orihime’s hand stop him.  
  
“No it’s okay…” She glanced away and felt her cheeks flush. “I don’t mind it….”  
  
Ulquiorra was once again in shock by her reaction to his touch, but he had no complaints.  
  
As her hands entangled themselves with his, he asked her, “Why do you not fear my touch? You have seen me kill humans but never hold any fear towards me. I do not understand you.”  
  
Orihime stared him dead in the eye as she spoke with no shake in her resolve. “I do not believe you would ever hurt me Ulquiorra.” She spoke firmly  
  
“How do you know this?” He countered, his green eyes staring deeply into hers.  
  
“Well I…” she felt her resolve begin to crumble as he continued to stare at her intensly.   
  
“I just don’t….” she turned her eyes away as she blushed slightly. “I feel safe with you.”  
  
Ulquiorra considered this, but his thoughts ended quickly when he heard her exclaim.  
  
“Wait a second! What time is it?” She jerked her head towards the clock on the wall and read 3:27.  
  
“Have I been asleep all day?”   
  
“Yes.” Ulquiorra spoke calmly. “I wanted to let you rest because of what happened last night your soul needed time to recover. But I began to worry when I saw you tossing in your sleep so I woke you.”  
  
Last night?   
  
Orihime suddenly recalled the events that had transpired and her hand almost slapped her neck where Ulquiorra’s lips were pressed against the previous night. A deep shade of red painted over her.  
  
That’s right. Orihime let Ulquiorra have part of her soul. She remembered him pulling her close and the touch of his chest pressed against hers as he wrapped his arms tightly around her and had his face buried in the crook of her neck.  
  
Just thinking about it sent shivers down Orihime’s spine and a warmth in the pit of her stomach.  
  
But after that she couldn’t remember anything, and as if Ulquiorra could tell what she was thinking, he began to explain.  
  
“After you fell asleep I brought you to your room and let you rest. It was also probably why your friend was unable to wake you.”  
  
Orihime nodded. “Ah okay. That makes sense.” She began to pull the blanket covers off of her and Ulquiorra stood up in response, still holding her hand, and helped her to her feet.  
  
As she gained balance she shot him a sweet smile and a thank you, before she made her way to the restroom.  
  
As Orihime walked away her hand slid out of Ulquiorra’s and even though he knew she was only behind the bathroom door, he was bothered that her hand was no longer in his. And it irked him how much he was upset over such a trivial thing.   
  
But what troubled him more was something else. He lifted his hand to his eye level and analyzed it intensely.  
  
The previous night on the roof he witnessed with this own eyes the fur on his arms and hands fading away during the conversation with Gin as he held that woman in his arms.  
  
Shortly after laying the woman in her bed the effects reversed back to their original form. But as he continued to stare at his hand now, he could still feel her energy radiating in his palm and he thought back to the words Gin had shared with him and when he first set Ulquiorra on his quest.  
  
He must find a woman that would reject something. And this was the woman Gin confirmed that he was supposed to be looking for, and he must do something that only Ulquiorra would know.  
  
The demon sighed in annoyance. He was tired of the white haired man’s riddles. Ulquiorra had no memories, how would he know what to do once he found this pure soul? Why couldn’t he just give him the answers if Gin knew it already?   
  
As he recalled the conversation though, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. According to Gin the angels were looking for them, and that was about the only thing he was clear on.  
  


* * *

  
  
In the bathroom Orihime looked herself in the mirror. Although she had slept for most of the day she still felt very tired and could see some bags under her eyes.  
  
So that was the result of losing apart of her soul? With every passing moment she felt herself regaining her energy, but the thought was still interesting to her.  
  
She was sure no other human would be able to survive this ordeal, but with her newly found powers she felt secure in her decision to help Ulquiorra.  
  
Orihime pulled her hair aside and nearly gasped when she saw marks on her neck. Her eyes tripled in size as she registered just where they came from…..  
  
She had no idea what to expect when she told Ulquiorra it was okay to take apart of her soul. She was surprised when she felt him embrace her and the shivers she felt from his touch.  
  
The orange haired girl rubbed her neck once more as she shut her eyes and reminisced the memory. She couldn’t get it out of her mind. She couldn’t get Ulquiorra out of her mind. But if she was being perfectly honest with herself, she really didn’t mind.   
  
Her thoughts were so entangled with her beloved demon she didn’t think much of that very weird dream she had.

* * *

  
  
It was late Saturday afternoon when the silver haired creator found himself walking in an empty part of Kurakara. There were not many people in this area, but there were many buildings. As he approached one in particular, he was surprised the doors were open.  
  
It was an old church with white steps leading to the entrance. The paint was chipped and the building looked worn down, but despite being Saturday there were still people inside.  
  
Gin walked up the steps and into the quiet building which lead to a decently sized service room with rows of pews. There were only a handful of people sitting even though there was not currently a service, but Gin knew what they were doing.  
  
They were praying.  
  
He sighed softly as he walked deeper into the church and took a seat close enough to some of the people in order to hear their prayers.   
  
He listened to an older woman praying for prosperity for her granddaughter as she was getting married and moving West. He heard from a mother who had 3 rest-less children with her pray for strength on how she was to survive with the death of her beloved husband and for hope as she was now embarking the world as a single mother. He heard of little boy praying for his mother in the hospital to get well.   
  
That day Gin listened to many prayers, and it pained him to know none of them were being answered. Although Aizen was technically God now, his inability to handle the voices of the universe would never change. He was unable to bear the voices of humanity when he was first brought into existence, and he is still unable to now. And due to the fact Gin was no longer in command, he had lost his ability to hear the voices either.  
  
So many prayers were now being wasted.  
  
That's why whenever he had a chance, Gin found himself entering churches as a bystander just to listen to these prayers. Atleast someone out there was listening.   
  
In the back of the church was a giant painting of a woman, and most who glanced quickly at it might confuse it for Mother Mary. But Gin knew that wasn’t the case. In every Universe there was always a repeating factor he found interesting.   
  
There was a group of people who collectively came together in belief that the son of God was not the Savior as many other religions depicted him to be. Instead he was a symbol of humanity’s despair. In all of these different variations of universes with this collective belief, the one whom had saved the Son of God was depicted as a woman with golden hair who served as a representation of purity and hope.  
  
Before Gin ever followed after the fallen angel he first had to find him. With his limited power he was unsure which universe he might be in. As a result The Creator traveled from universe to universe in search of Aizen, Ulquiorra, and the golden light.  
  
On one of his investigations in a distant universe was when he first saw such paintings of this mysterious woman in the 1400s on his search. Although Ulquiorra did not appear in every single universe, the effects of his and the light shard’s star dust did effect every single one.   
  
Gin had wondered how the humans had found such information that depicted Ulquiorra in the truest light and also with additional information that even the Creator did not know himself. How did humanity come to realize this light was a woman? And how did they know the truth that Ulquiorra was a symbol of humanity’s despair? After centuries of travelling he made a grand discovery.  
  
The belief would always originate from a pure soul with some form of psychic abilities that would receive visions of this story of the symbol of despair and the savior depicted as a woman. It was through this that Gin realized the light shard’s he had been looking for might have been a woman after all. And that was how he realized all pure soul’s were connected to the original light in some way. They all had some sort of vision of how the original stardust of these light shards within them created the universe and was used to give a heart to the symbol of despair for humanity. Somehow some of these pure souls even received visions on parts of the story that had not even occured yet.  
  
Such as the golden haired women meeting the symbol of despair once more and helping him find his heart after the devil ripped it away.  
  
The belief that when the universe was created, God saved this demonic creature that was born from the despair of humanity, and saved him with the pure light of the universe and granted him a heart.   
  
The creature was brought in as God’s son and used as a symbol for the rest of humanity on how their belief in purity and goodness would save them. But a battle between God and the strongest angel that eventually fell and became known as the Devil broke out amongst the heavens. The corrupted angel tore out the son’s heart, returning him back to the symbol of despair.  
  
These people believed that once the symbol was restored, only then would humanity have a hope at salvation once more. They knew that with each passing moment the universes were pulling away from each other and eventually there will be nothing but darkness. They believed this served as a depiction for the human race. And they ultimately believed that once the savior restored the heart of humanity’s despair, only then would a balance return to the cosmos.   
  
For it was the result of the golden women that kept the universes close, almost as if retracting to their original state of purity. At the same time it the the darkness of the universe and their despair that caused them to expand away from each to begin with. It was with this ying and yang effect between pushing and pulling that would bring peace. No more would the universes pull away from each other until nothing existed but darkness and neither will they collide back into the pure nothingness that once existed. It was this balance of push and pull that allowed life to flourish and thrive. It required good and it required evil to work together.  
  
  
And Gin himself knew this, which is why he knew the darkness would thrive as a result of expanding the universe. But he also knew there was no other way for life to flourish without this balance.  
  
Those that followed this ideology ultimately believed once the symbol was saved, so to would the rest of humanity and there will be peace amongst the human race once more.   
  
Gin found this very interesting, and that was what he used to confirm that when he saw Orihime Inoue in soul society many years ago in an alternative universe, he knew she was the one he was looking for.   
  
Gin understood how the universe worked and how the push and pull is what was needed to allow life to prosper,  and how Aizen didn’t care about this balance at all. All he wanted was to control it himself and to punish the humans he hated so.  
  
The silver haired man stared at the painting of the woman in the back of the church. Her golden firey hair flowed around her as she glowed and release a light from her hands that enveloped her entire being. Her eyes were closed peacefully as she extended her hands out, as if offering salvation to anyone who was willing to take it.  
  
“What a strange world we live in.” He whispered to himself as he recalled the woman he saw in Ulquiorra’s arms the night before.   
  
He sat up from the pews and made his way to the front of the church and tipped his hat to the few humans he passed on the way out.  
  
“And an interesting one at that.”

* * *

 

It was about 4PM on this lovely Saturday afternoon when Orihime found herself in the living room watching a movie with Ulquiorra. She had showered earlier, made a snack, and found a nice spot on the couch she planned on spending the rest of the day.  
  
The demon had waited for her until she emerged from the restroom. Her wet auburn hair stuck to her face and the smell of strawberries radiated from her, which Ulquiorra found very alluring. He followed her to the kitchen and then to the living room where she offered him a spot next to her. He complied and promptly took a seat as she threw something on the TV.   
  
Ulquiorra did not understand television but he was more than okay with sitting next to her. He noticed that as soon as he sat down, the human scooted closer to him and leaned against his arm and got comfy.   
  
Ulquiorra, on the other hand, was as stiff as a board. He froze as soon as she touched him and as soon as he felt her warmth against him. He could feel that oh-so familiar feeling surrounding his hollow hole once more.  
  
After a couple of minutes of sitting in silence with the only noise coming from the TV, the sound of the telephone ringing broke it.  
  
It startled Orihime and she jumped slightly and into Ulquiorra.   
  
“Sorry!” She beamed as she quickly stood up and rushed over to pick it up.  
  
Ulquiorra stayed on the couch and watched her curiously as she answered and began speaking to someone by the name of Nel. By the sound of the conversation it sounded like this Nel had invited her somewhere and was asking if she wanted to join.  
  
Without skipping a beat Orihime eagerly agreed to Nel’s invitation to karaoke with the whole gang. She gave her goodbyes and said she’ll see her later that day.  
  
Orihime radiated a bright smile as she hung up the phone and looked towards Ulquiorra, who had a bit of a confused expression on his face.  
  
“So it looks like I have plans tonight. I’m so excited I haven’t hung out with everyone outside of school for so long!”  
  
But Ulquiorra furrowed his eyebrows in response to this and stood up from his seat on the couch. Without any emotion harboring his voice, he said, “You’re not going anywhere.”  
  
Orihime froze and the smile on her face instantly melted away.  
  
“What do you mean?” Was about all she managed to let out. She was beyond confused by Ulquiorra’s response.   
  
“The angels are still at bay and you’re still weak from yesterday. I cannot in good conscious allow you to go by yourself. If I could be by your side that might be different, but I cannot.”  
  
“But you said there were no angels after us anymore, right?” Orihime shot back.  
  
This was the first time Ulquiorra ever demanded her she could or couldn’t do something.  
  
“I did say I could no longer sense them.” Ulquiorra confirmed. “But I just received information that they’re hiding their presence and are still targeting you. Even I cannot sense them so there is no way for me to keep you from harm unless you stay here.”  
  
Orihime took this in but was still confused. “Wait, where did you hear this from?” She asked.  
  
“The Devil paid me a visit last night and gave me a warning of their presence. So I cannot allow you to go by his orders.”  
  
Something in Orihime begin to stir. At first it sounded like Ulquiorra was concerned for her safety, but now it sounded like he was just following an order. Was he only staying here with her based on orders to begin with?  
  
“Well….” she started. “If your concern for my well-being is only from an order then don’t worry about me.”   
  
Something in the sound of her voice began to shift. She was angry and slightly hurt by Ulquiorra’s words even though his main intent was to look out for her safety.  
  
Orihime went to her bedroom and didn’t pass Ulquiorra another glance. He followed after her as she began to rummage through her closet for something to wear. She wasn’t big on confrontation but she was visibly upset. For the life of Ulquiorra he couldn’t understand why.  
  
“Yes I was ordered to keep you safe but that is not the issue.” Ulquiorra said from behind the human woman.   
  
Orihime continued to ignore him so he shut the closet door to get her to look at him. But she didn’t. Without sparing another second she immediately went to her dresser to look for something to wear instead.  
  
This was the first time Ulquiorra had ever seen Orihime’s  stubborn side like this. But again he followed her and persisted.   
  
“The issue is your safety. You yourself witnessed the dangers of the angels that night. They didn’t think for a second to spare your life. Now that you revealed your powers to them they are only going to continue after you.”  
  
Orihime did take this in as she rustled through her clothes but didn’t answer. A few seconds passed before Ulquiorra grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the dresser and used his tail to shut it.  
  
“That is why I cannot allow you to leave.” By this point he was forcing her to look at him this time.  
  
Something in Orihime began to break.   
  
She was so scared of her newly found powers and when she asked Ulquiorra about everything last night, he made it sound for the most part like everything was okay. But in reality it was not? He was being forceful with her, a side of him she had never seen, and all by the words of someone who ordered him to protect her?  
  
“This was never about me to begin with.” Orihime shot back. “This was about you, wasn’t it? How did everything turn around back at me? I just wanted to repay you for protecting me. But now those creatures are after me, and you’re only here on orders to begin with? Is that it?”  
  
As if all of her anxiety about the situation was finally being released, tears began to fall from her eyes.   
  
“You said you were looking for something but said you yourself didn’t know. Now you’re receiving orders from someone else on what to do with me? Was this your plan all along?”  
  
Orihime began to speak of things she herself was unaware she felt. But the demanding voice of Ulquiorra pulled out apart of her she didn’t know existed.  
  
Ulquiorra, on the other hand, didn’t quite know what to say. This was not his plan. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do. But seeing the human girl raise her voice and respond in such a way to him left him feeling something unpleasant.  
  
“This was never my plan.” He admitted, as he let go of her arm, causing it to fall back to her side.  
  
Maybe this was the way she was supposed to react to him. Crying made more sense coming from a human in response to anything regarding Ulquiorra.  
  
A new feeling and emotion began to eat away at Ulquiorra’s hollow hole, but he did all he could to keep the pain hidden. In reality it was his fault for even coming in contact with her in the first place that her life was now in danger. And as soon as those thoughts pieced together in his mind, did he realize what emotion was erupting from his very being.  
  
Guilt.  
  
“So does that mean I can never leave the house? I can’t go to school? Or see my friends?” Orihime cried out to him, more tears streaming down her face. As if all the hardship she had endured since that fateful night she crossed paths with Ulquiorra were fueling her tears.   
  
Ulquiorra couldn’t stand seeing her like this anymore and even more so because he was the cause of it.  
  
“I apologize for ever dragging you in this.” Was the last words she heard.  
  
Before Orihime could respond, Ulquiorra had disappeared from her very sight.   
  
She heard herself choke before another rush of tears fell from her face.  
  
Orihime was angry, fearful, anxious, and scared. For the first time all the concerns were bearing down on her. And now Ulquiorra was gone, but that just made her cry more. Not knowing what to do, she decided to call the first person that came to mind, Tatsuki.  
  
After recovering a bit from her tears and anxiety, she dialed her best friends number.   
  
“Orihime!” She heard her best friend chirp out over the line. “Are you getting ready? I’m about to head over to the karaoke place now. Nel confirmed you’re coming too.”  
  
“Tatsuki I got into a fight with that boy.” Orihime choked out. “I don’t even want to go anywhere now.”  
  
There was a moment of silence on the other end. Although Orihime couldn’t see her best friend she could feel her anger souring.  
  
“That same guy you told me about yesterday?”  
  
“Mmm.” Orihime meekly responded.  
  
“Let me see….” Tatsuki started. “Is that the same guy you snuck out with last night?”  
  
Orihime froze in response by her friend’s accusation.  
  
She heard Tatsuki chuckle. “When I tried to wake you this morning I happened to peep a glance at some distinguishing love marks on your neck. Don’t kill me! They were just out there in the open for me to see.”  
  
Orihime’s face fell to a deep deep deep shade of red and her voice was trapped in her throat. Not only was she feeling absolutely horrible, but now knowing her best friend knew about the marks sent the auburn-haired girl on an emotional rollercoaster.  
  
“Do you want to talk about it?” Tatsuki finally asked. “What did he do?”  
  
But Orihime just sighed in response. She didn’t know how to explain it to Tatsuki. “I don’t really want to talk about it. But I just don’t feel like going out to see anyone right now.”  
  
“Hey hey.” Tatsuki interjected. “If that guy made you upset, the best thing you need right now is anything other than sulking alone in your house. Trust me you need to get out. And if you want to talk about it I’m all ears. How does that sound?”  
  
“Okay….” Orihime responded.  
  
“Great!  Get dressed, I’ll pick you up in 30 minutes, okay?”  
  
“Alright I’ll see you in a little bit. Try not to feel too down.”  
  
The call ended with a click and Orihime found herself alone in her apartment once more. She had a lot on her mind such as these angels and Ulquiorra but Tatsuki’s words helped ease away atleast some of her troubles for the time being.  
  
At that, she continued to get dressed and tried as hard as she could not to think about Ulquiorra or where he might have gone to or if he was ever going to return.  
  
Just as promised, Tatsuki showed up at Orihime’s door-step ready to take her friend to some much needed fun.   
  
The two walked with their elbows intertwined and the raven haired girl tried her best to distract her friend who, despite putting some make-up on, still looked completely miserable.  
  
“Geez I’m ready to throw some punches towards this guy if he had guts to hurt you that badly…” Tatsuki finally pointed out.  
  
“No….” Orihime mumbled. “We both got into a fight, it wasn’t just him.” As much as how Ulquiorra’s words affected her, even unintentionally, she knew she was also in the wrong for losing her cool. She began to feel incredibly guilty even if her fear and anxiety felt justified.   
  
“I see…” Tatsuki went off. “But you two aren’t dating yet, right?”  
  
Orihime jerked her head towards her friend violenty, “N-No! We’re just friends...I think…..I don’t even know if he would consider me a friend to be honest.”  
  
Tatsuki cocked an eyebrow in response. “So you snuck out at night to see someone you’re not even sure if your friends with, and whom also left you very peculiar marks on your neck? Let me know if I have the story wrong.”  
  
Orihime covered her face in shame and mumbled something completely incoherent that even her best friend couldn’t understand..  
  
How was Orihime supposed to know that was going to happen? She didn’t know that’s how Ulquiorra planned on taking apart of her soul and there was no way in hell she was going to explain that to her friend.  
  
Tatsuki laughed at Orihime’s reaction.  
  
“Well not sure if I told you or not but Grimmjow is also going to be at Karaoke tonight. Not sure how you feel about that.”  
  
Once again, Orihime met Tatsuki’s face with a bewildered expression as she whipped her head around once more.  
  
Now Orihime kind of wished she had listened to Ulquiorra and didn’t go. She wasn’t ready to see Grimmjow after yesterday. Not after she had worked so hard to bury that memory of the shock he had on his face when her powers revealed themselves.  
  
What if it happened again today? What if he tells everyone?  
  
And worst yet, Orihime couldn’t tell Tatsuki the truth involving both Ulquiorra and Grimmjow, so she had to keep everything bottled up inside.  
  
Orihime bobbed her head down in defeat as she considered all of this. Even though she was still heated about the conversation she had with Ulquiorra, apart of her just wanted to run home now to see him.  
  
But she knew he was no longer there, or if he would even come back, which just made her feel worse.  
  
Finally they made it to the place. Once inside there were tables for dining with a stage and karaoke set in the back. All of the crew had already arrived and there they found Kiego, Chad, Mizuino, Nel, Chizuru, and Grimmjow already sitting.   
  
As soon as the set of girls walked in, Grimmjow sat up straight and tried to make eye contact with the auburn haired girl, but she deflected his gazes by looking in the other direction.  
  
Thankfully the group dynamic had somehow split itself in a way where  the girls were seated on one end and the boys on other around the rectangle shaped table.  
  
The last two seats available was on the left edge. Tatsuki took one seat, next to Chizuru, and Orihime took the other one next to Nel. Thankfully Orihime was sitting on the same side as Grimmjow, who was sitting on the opposite edge, and with Nel and Chad between them, she couldn’t even see the blue haired student at all.  
  
Her senses finally began to ease as Nel chimed up and conversed with her along with Tatsuki and Chizuru while the boys had their own conversation. Soon they ordered their food and were joking about who was going to go up and sing first.  
  
Usually, Orihime was the first to volunteer but today she just really wasn’t feeling it. And all of her friends were surprised by this and immediately questioned her.  
  
“Heyyyy Orihime what gives!!!” Kiego exclaimed. “I promised Grimmjow he’d get to hear your pretty voice if he tagged along and now you’re not even going to sing for us?!”  
  
Orihime eyes nearly popped out of her skull as she heard this but Tatsuki shot Kiego a deathly stare to shut him up.  
  
“Orihime isn’t feeling too well today so leave her be! Why don’t you go up instead Kiego?” Tatsuki asked.  
  
“I thought you’d never ask!” And moronically, Kiego dashed to the stage ready to share his amateur talent with the world.  
  
Orihime was eternally grateful to her best friend. Kiego’s display even managed to pull out a light chuckle from her.  
  
Amidst Kiego’s performance, the auburn haired girl heard Grimmjow tell Chad and Mizuiro that he was kind of disappointed because he was looking forward to hear Orihime sing after hearing Kiego hype her up.  
  
Orihime’s head shot in their direction upon hearing her name be talked about and Grimmjow leaned further into the table in order to see her better.  
  
He tried to make eye contact with her but found it difficult. So while Kiego was finishing his song, Grimmjow took it upon himself to sit up swiftly and take his “friend’s seat” in order to actually see Orihime. He was now sitting on the opposite side of her, but still all the way on the other edge. Even so, he was finally able to make eye contact with her.  
  
As soon as she met his eyes, Grimmjow shot her a cheeky grin and she felt her face burn up. Although to everyone in the group, who noticed, thought they knew why. But in reality it was Orihime’s fear that was causing her to heat up.  
  
Her anxiety was eating away at her. She couldn’t even eat the bread appetizers on the table, which on any other occasion she would have consumed atleast three by now.  
  
Tatsuki noticed this.  
  
“Hey…..” the raven haired girl across from Orihime spoke in order to get her attention. “Are you feeling any better?”  
  
“I’m okay…..” Orihime finally mumbled. “I think….I just might need some fresh air.” She used up all her strength to give her friend a smile that said not to worry.  
  
At this point Kiego had returned to the table and caused a whole scene on how Grimmjow stole his seat.  
  
During the commotion Orihime excused herself from the table and told her friends she was going to be right back. She made her way towards the exit and stood outside of the building.  
  
She leaned against the brick wall and tried to steady her breathing. She was sure if Grimmjow was not there maybe she could enjoy her time. But after yesterday she found it quite near impossible. And her anxiety from her conversation with Ulquiorra was still eating away at her.  To top it all off she was still very tired.  
  
Just then she heard the entrance to the karaoke diner open, and emerged was none other than Grimmjow. He casually had his hands in his pockets and glanced around before spotting her.   
  
They made eye contact and Orihime froze. She held her arms close to her as the color in her face faded away as she considered her options. Instinct told her to run, but she knew in her current state Grimmjow would surely catch her.  
  
As he approached her, Orihime could look nowhere else but the ground and stared at their feet.  
  
After a few moments of silence Grimmjow finally broke it.  
  
“Can I talk to you?”  
  
Orihime knew what was coming.  
  
“S-Sure…” she responded hesitantly.  
  
She noticed Grimmjow pull his hands from his pockets, and she couldn’t see it but he began to rub the back of his neck.  
  
“In private?” He asked.  
  
At that Orihime finally looked up at him. She wasn’t aware of it but she had started crying again   
and Grimmjow noticed.  
  
“We are in private.” She answered simply.  
  
Grimmjow slightly furrowed his eyebrows and gestured with his arms the other people walking around.   
  
“I mean away from here.”  
  
Orihime nodded slowly. She knew there was no more running away from it.  
  
Grimmjow walked a couple of steps past her until he reached the alleyway that was conveniently located next to the diner. Orihime watched him, and when he gestured to her to follow, she hesitantly did so.  
  
Holding her arms close to herself she followed Grimmjow into the dark shadows.  
  
He turned around and looked at her. Her face was still slightly red from her previous tears and she looked on the verge of crying again.  
  
It killed Grimmjow to see this. He knew she was a pure soul and he also knew she was acting this way because he was there.   
  
But he had to talk to her.  
  
“Alright well I will just cut to it and let you know I won’t tell anyone about what happened yesterday. I can see you’re crazy anxious, we all kind of saw it, and well I thought that might have been the reason.”  
  
Orihime’s eyes widened and she finally met his.  
  
Grimmjow had his hands placed in his pockets once more as he continued.  
  
“So….yeah. Don’t worry about it. You can trust me on that much.” He added.  
  
And even though it was not his intention, the tears began to fall from Orihime’s eyes once more. She quickly used her hands to cover her face and wipe them away. A piece of her anxiety was finally lifted.   
  
He wasn’t calling her a freak. He wasn’t going to tell anyone. And he wasn’t acting scared of her either. Throughout everything that had happened so far, this was atleast something she did not have to worry about anymore.  
  
Grimmjow’s eyes popped upon her reaction and he bit down on his lip. He was trying to make her feel better but he just made her cry harder.  
  
Before he could say anything though, she began to speak through her tears.  
  
“Thank you…..that really means a lot.” She wiped her eyes one last time before meeting his.   
  
“I couldn’t talk about it with any of my friends and it was eating away at me.”  She admitted.  
  
“No I totally understand.” Grimmjow responded.   
  
“I just wanted to let you know not to worry about it. But if you ever wanted to talk about it….” He brought his hands to his chest to refer to himself.  
  
Orihime sniffled, “I wish I could give you some sort of explanation. But I don’t really know what to say…”  
  
“Ahhh,” Grimmjow started. “No worries. I know what happened.”  
  
Orihime blinked in response by this and the last few tears fell off her face as she did.  
  
“I know who you are.” Grimmjow told her.  
  
But Orihime was frozen. “What---” She started.  
  
“You’re a very special human.” He interrupted. ‘And that’s why I was sent here.”  
  
Grimmjow sighed as he looked at her confused expression. Apart of him felt bad for how much his presence was stressing her out, so he decided she needed to know the truth. Even just apart of it.  
  
“I want to show you something, but you have to promise me you’re not going to scream or run-away if I show you.”  
  
He just needed her to trust him.  
  
A million thoughts began to race through Orihime’s mind. The last time she was in an alleyway she was attacked by those three men. And now she was alone with Grimmjow whose asking her not to scream with what he’s about to show her. And wait did he just call her a human, what was that about?  
  
“I need you to promise me.” Grimmjow furthered after no response from the girl.  
  
She nodded begrudgingly.   
  
“Alright….”  
  
Orihime had no idea what to expect. And nothing could  prepare her for what she was about to see.  
  
Grimmjow began to shine a bright blue light as his outfit transformed into a pure white cloak. Wrapped around his waist was a single sash that held it in place but the rest of the gown allowed part of the muscles on his chest to be exposed.  A set of marvelous white wings began to materialize on his back.   
  
This energy caused a gush of wind to flow around the two of them.  
  
Orihime could only stare in awe. But even so the pieces of the puzzle finally began to fit.  
  
Grimmjow was an angel. He had appeared at her school the day after the occurence with the other 2 angels that night. And Ulquiorra had warned her that they were still here and were after her.  
  
The fear began to set in as the wind died down and Grimmjow could read it on her like an open book. He grabbed her wrist, in fear she was about to run away despite promising not to.  
  
“I’m not here to hurt you so calm down.”  
  
Orihime’s mouth was dropped. She couldn’t pull away from Grimmjow’s grip on her.  
  
“We have been looking for you for a very long time. I know you might not believe me after your experience a few days ago with my comrades, but we do not mean to hurt you. They were after that demon and when you appeared they thought you were on his side and reacted without thinking.”  
  
He paused briefly to see if she had something to say, but her mouth was still agap in shock.   
  
He continued.  
  
“But I promise you I am not going to hurt you. I have been sent just to make sure you’re safe. I know that demon is staying with you and after his past actions you have to understand I’m just taking precautions for your safety.”  
  
Orihime bit down on her lips as she considered this. She glanced to her side as she tried to come up with any form of words that expressed what she was thinking, but she was having so much trouble.  
  
“Why have you been looking for me?” She finally managed to ask.  
  
At this point Grimmjow released his grip on her wrist as he felt she wasn’t going to runaway. The feeling of him originally trying to grab her suddenly made Orihime remember that strange dream she had.  
  
“Wait…” Grimmjow cocked his head to the side. “You mean you don’t know why?”  
  
Orihime shook her head defensively.  
  
“Wait hold on a second. You have had these powers your whole life and you have no idea what you were? Did you ever wonder why demons were after you?”  
  
The auburn haired girls bulged out of her skull.  
  
“This power, or whatever it is, I’ve only realized I’ve had since yesterday with you in the classroom.”  
  
Grimmjow raised his eyebrows in response to this.  
  
“And no demons have ever gone after me before. I didn’t even know angels and demons existed until a couple of days ago.” She admitted.  
  
“I see….” was his reply. Grimmjow didn’t know this, it wasn’t in the original report he had received.  
  
“You didn’t answer my question.” Orihime demanded. Something was filling her as she allowed Grimmjow’s words to soak in and as she recalled Ulquiorra’s warning earlier that day.  
  
“Right….Orihime listen, every couple of centuries a soul with incredible power is born. This power is strong enough to overthrow God himself. That’s why demons are after it, that’s why the devil is hunting for these souls. And that’s why the angels are meant to protect them.”  
  
He paused for a moment before finally giving it to her.  
  
“Orihime… you’re one of these souls.”


End file.
